Quality Time
by The-Ugly-Turtleduckling
Summary: Raven and Beast Boy have always been at odds with one another. What happens when a little mistake turns into a huge problem, and the two are forced to spend quality time together? Will they learn to get along, or will they kill each other first? BBRae
1. Raven's Morning

Hi. This is my first fanfic so please be nice. I know the first chapter sux, but I'm just doing all the introductions for those who don't watch TT and introducing the problems and stuff. It IS an important chapter though, so stay with me here.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS OR ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS STORY.

Chapter 1: Raven's Morning

It was a normal day. _Well, as normal as any day could get around here_, Raven thought as she stretched and got out of bed. She looked at the alarm clock. It said 5:30. She was up early, which wasn't unusual considering that she was usually one of the first few awake. Raven ran a brush through her short violet hair and brushed her teeth. She then telepathically drew her dark blue cloak into her hand, draped it around her shoulders, and fastened it to her black jumpsuit via the jeweled brooch she kept with the cloak at all times. Raven raised her hood and walked out of her room, the automatic door sliding shut behind her. The slightly gothic telepath levitated, then flew down the hallway towards the living room and breakfast.

Just before Raven reached the double doors leading to the living room, she paused and took a deep breath, to make sure that her destructive emotions were in check. She put an indifferent look on her face and fazed through into the room. Robin was already at the computer across the room from her, typing away, to the right of the giant flat screen television that doubled as a window outlooking Jump City bay and the half circle couch that probably contained a couple of remotes, dirty socks, and various other misplaced items deep within its cushions. She looked to the right side of the room, but no one was looking through the mini-fridge ridden with spoiled food and various unknown life forms, cooking on the stove, or riffling through the cabinets. The left side of the room was deserted, too, with no one sitting at the tables or fiddling with the dials on the central power source for Titans Tower. Robin was the only one up besides her.

She flew over to the back of him, he oblivious to the fact that she stood behind him because he was so immersed in his work. "Slade again?" she guessed.

Robin jumped, then whirled around in the chair. "You scared me," he said sheepishly as he saw Raven standing there with a puzzled smirk on her face. "I didn't hear you come in. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out where Slade went after, um, helping, us with the defeat of Trigon. He must be about to pull something off…he has to. Hey, I'm not as obsessed as you think," Robin said as he caught the look on Raven's face.

"Yeah, right. That, and Beast Boy has a brain." Raven muttered as she turned around and started walking toward the kitchen area.

"And," Robin called out as she continued walking, "You really shouldn't sneak up on someone like that, Raven. You almost gave me a heart attack." Raven snorted as she made it to the kitchen and started to brew a pot of herbal tea.

As she was getting the water ready to boil, she glanced out the window and saw that it was about the time of morning when the sky is graying with the approach of the Sun. Dawn. Her favorite time of day, except, of course, for sunset. When Raven had the teapot full of water and heating up on the stove, she walked over to the couch and chose her favorite spot, the cushion on the very left, also the only one without a soda stain or old piece of gum stuck to the fabric. This is where she sat every morning to watch the sunrise unless the roof was free. The roof wasn't often free because during battles close to home and such it was often destroyed. It was always the roof, and no one knew why. Today they had construction work going on so it was off limits, even for those of the titans who could fly and steer clear of the debris. Robin and his rules, she thought as she settled down in her little niche in the couch.

Fog was drifting over the water of the bay as the sun finally peeked out from the horizon. It turned the water a bright orange with a red tinge spattered around every now and then over the rippling waves. So nice, she thought. The peace, the quiet, the tranq-"AAHH!" she screamed as a deafening whistle filled the air. A lightbulb above her head shattered, and the little shards of glass fell onto Raven's head and shoulders, some landing on the floor and the couch. She clapped a hand to her mouth, realizing it was just the tea kettle reminding her that the water was boiling. Raven turned up a corner of her mouth sheepishly at Robin as she telepathically gathered the pieces up and tossed them in the trash can.

He had spun around in the computer chair when he heard her shriek and was now looking at her with a mixed expression of surprise and confusion. She was usually the most level-headed of the bunch, so any emotion displayed by her often meant trouble was afoot. "Are you okay, Raven? You're acting a little strange today, is anything the matter?" he said. "N-no, I'm fine, it's nothing," stuttered Raven, still slightly flustered, who was now getting up from the couch to silence the pot and drop in the teabags to steep.

It was a good thing the room was soundproofed, because Raven knew that the sound would have woken up the rest of the team and she didn't want to do that and ruin the tranquility of the morning. The truth was, she was a little unsettled this morning. Last night, she was up tossing and turning for hours because she had been hearing voices in her head. She had been hearing those voices ever since she and the team had defeated her evil demon father, Trigon. Lately, however, the voices had not just been in her dreams. She had started hearing them during waking hours as well.

A prophecy had been made before her birth that she was to become a portal for Trigon after her 17th birthday, so he could come to Earth, and then destroy it. She was born and raised in a dimension called Azurath, where she learned to control her emotions and her impressive mental powers so that Trigon's evil would not take her over, and she may have some control over her life before it came time to fulfill the prophecy. At age 15, she was sent to Earth to live with the Teen Titans, who quickly became her friends. They went through tough times together, fighting crime, but managed to make it through everything. She and her friends were nearly defeated when the prophecy was fulfilled and Trigon came to power almost a month ago, but Raven had found her power again and blasted him into another dimension.

Their arch nemesis, Slade, whom had tried to finish off the Titans on several occasions and usually came close to succeeding, had helped them defeat Trigon. As much as Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, hated to admit it, he had been a big help to them. Robin was, out of all the Titans, most determined to hunt down Slade, sometimes becoming overly obsessive on the subject. He had hurt the team a few times in his attempts to bring Slade down. Almost all of them had something personal against Slade, though Robin had it the worst. Slade had beaten him within an inch of his life on a few occasions, and by threatening Robin's friends Slade immediately became enemy #1 in Robin's mind.

He had been trying to find where Slade had gone ever since that fateful day that had been destined to be the end of the world, and looked as if he desperately needed sleep. Raven and the others had tried countless times to force Robin to get some sleep, to no avail. His will was just too strong. Raven could sense that just by looking at his face or honing her senses into his aura. If he had chosen the path of evil early on instead of good, he would have been a definite problem.

As Raven sipped her tea, she stared out into the ever brightening sky, contemplating what those voices meant. Was she losing her grip, or was she just unsettled because of the near brush she had with losing her friends and the Earth along with them? She decided that later she would consult her books to see if there was any helpful information in them. At that time, Starfire flew into the room, giggling and shouting "Friends! I trust that the morning is good, Raven and Robin?"

"Good morning Starfire." answered Raven in her monotone voice. "Good Morning" yelled Robin brightly, though he just mumbles his response to the others' questions when he's still wrapped up in his work.

"It is 6 and 45 of the morning; our friends should be up soon. Shall I prepare the morning nourishment?" Star asked. "Sure, Star," Robin said. "Just don't make any of that Tamuranian food today please. My stomach is still settling from forcing down that Glorg or whatever it was you made last week." Robin said that last sentence under his breath. Starfire had sensitive feelings, and none of the Titans wanted to upset her. Her cooking was horrendous most of the time because she often made recipes from her home planet, Tamuran.

Starfire had fallen to Earth after being kidnapped from Tamuran and put under experiments which made her powers of flight and firing of energy blasts, named "Starbolts" very powerful. The Titans found her and taught her the ways and languages of Earth, then recruited her as a member of the team. She looks just like a human except for her eyebrows, which are small and round and the same color as her fiery red hair, and her bright jade eyes, which have no whites. Her powers are run by her emotions, and she is not a hard book to read. Her facial expressions tell all, and Star is always trying to keep the peace and brighten everyone's mood.

She tries very hard to make Raven go to the mall with her and do her hair or get makeovers. The two girls are opposites, like day and night. Star is also very naive and innocent. She is a little confused still on Earthly ways and customs, and speaks using absolutely no consonants at all. She also has cravings for the strangest foods. Star once wanted to order a pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting. The Tamuranian also has a huge appetite for mustard, smothering everything she eats in it and drinking it, but not in front of her friends anymore because she knows from experience that it makes them want to puke.

Raven turned her attention to Starfire as she started to prepare breakfast. The alien girl hummed an unrecognizable tune as she worked, getting out a large stack of waffles from their seemingly harmless mini-fridge and stifling a scream as the blue fuzz covering most of the contents started to tremble and growl. Setting the waffles on the counter, she rummaged through the cabinets for the waffle iron, which she had seen Cyborg use before. Due to her short attention span, she had gotten about as far as watching him take it out of the cabinet before becoming bored and skipping off to watch World of Fungus (her favorite TV show). Finding it, she swung it out and cautiously asked Robin whether or not the "iron of waffles" worked like the "iron of clothes". He, of course, answered her with a cheery and amused no, then proceeded to walk over and show her how to manage the "iron of waffles".

Raven smirked. It was beyond obvious that Star and Robin liked each other, but neither had the nerve to say it. Even complete imbeciles like Cyborg and Beast Boy knew that. At that point, one of the little voices in the back of her head said, in its sweet, sugary voice, "But they're not complete imbeciles. You know that! At least…" Raven stifled off the voice by attaining the meditation posture for a moment, regaining complete control over her powers. She had found that doing that helped control the voices, for the moment at least. Raven still wasn't sure exactly why they were plaguing her yet, but was determined to find out.

Raven was startled out of her thoughts as the double doors slid open and Cyborg clomped into the room. As always, he was right on time for breakfast at 7:00 sharp. His sensors woke him up at precisely the right moment so that he could be on time coming in. He greeted them with a "Hey, everybody! I smell waffles!"

His last sentence ended in a half-groan as he saw who was manning the waffle iron. Cyborg edged his way over to Robin, who was now standing just outside the kitchen area, then whispered, "Are they safe? Or am I going to have to fake a stomachache again to get out of eating that toxic waste?"

"Yes, they're fine. I showed her how to use the waffle iron and asked her to make Earth food today. Happy?" Robin whispered back.

"Somewhat" Cyborg whispered. Star silently popped up behind them.

"What are you whispering about, friends?" She whispered innocently. "AAAII!" Cyborg yelled. Robin, sharp-minded as always, came up with a quick answer. "Nothing," he said.

"Oh." Star said. Then, suddenly totally understanding the situation, she cleverly asked Cyborg "Why do you look so sick, Cyborg? Perhaps I should abandon the waffles and make you some delicious Eyock soup? I know for a fact you looooove it."

Looking very surprised and confused at her statement, Cy simply dropped his jaw, trying to decide whether she was actually asking him in ignorance or if she was becoming cynical. He knew that Star knew he got much sicker after eating that meatloaf broth-type substance. Robin looked at Star with an equally surprised expression on his face, and she simply smirked and flounced off to continue her waffle masterpiece.

"Whoa," Robin finally managed. "Where did that come from?"

The boys, in their stupor, did not notice Raven sitting on the couch. Her eyes were obscured in black energy and she looked empty, as if sleeping. A cautious black shadow drifted from Starfire's back to Raven's prone form on the couch, lighting her up with an eerie glow. Her hand twitched, and her eyes snapped to their normal violet hue. A faint smirk crossed her face, and she turned her attention back to her book.

At 7:15, Raven was promptly shoved off of the couch to make room for the video-game crazy boys. Pulling controllers out from under the couch, (what don't they hide in there?) they started their favorite game, Crash'n Brash'n Turbo Racers. Hiding a frown of annoyance at not only their rudeness but the tongue twisting game name that was being chanted over and over, Raven drifted over to the separate chair to read.

With 7:32 came the soft _swoosh_ of the air-ride automatic doors and the shuffling of half-asleep feet. Raven, from everyday experience, knew without looking just what this meant. She immediately assumed the meditation posture and began chanting; "Azurath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azurath…"

Her need for composure was based on the fact that her everyday tormentor, Beast Boy, had walked into the room. With him she had no tolerance because she was sure he just loved to torture her and his sole purpose in life seemed to be antagonizing her and threatening the delicate state of balance in her mind. Knowing within the sanctity of her powerful mind that he was drawing near, she braced herself for an explosion of noise or something of the sort. None came.

Opening one eye, she glanced in his approximate direction. The little green changeling was silently creeping towards the back of Cyborg's head in the form of a cat. _Oh, no_, she thought. Here comes the racket. Forcibly closing her mind to disturbances, she chanted louder. "Azurath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azurath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Through her closed mind drifted noise, though. First, tiny, padded paws leapt off of the carpet in tandem to the irritatingly loud GameStation music. Next, a screech of terror pierced her serenity. Skidding tires and Robin's cry of YESSS! accompanied the sound. Knowing an insult match was about to occur and there was no way she was drowning it out, Raven released the protective shield around her mind, stopped chanting, and waited for the feud.

All too soon it came. Cyborg started it by screaming, "Look what you made me do! I was WINNING!"

"Well, sooorry!" Beast Boy retorted. "I was just trying to wake you up cuz ya looked a little tired! Plus, it was funny!"

"Not for me!" Cyborg retaliated. "I LOST the game and I was about to go on to the 4th level!"

Robin stood up and grinned, walking in between the yelling friends. "Oh, Cyborg, give him a break already! I'm not complaining about your loss!" Chuckling, he ruffled Beast Boy's hair, messing it up even worse, and started off to boot up his level 4 race. Shoving Robin's hand off of his head, BB pushed past and walked up to his furious buddy. Twanging his finger against Cy's chest plate, (which was up to his shoulders) the elf wannabe started the name-calling match.

"Metalhead!" "Grass stain!" "Tin can!" "Boogerface!" These infantile comments continued on for a few minutes before the boys exhausted their vast stores of titles. After that, they simply laughed and shook hands.

"A fair match, my friend," Cyborg announced. "Likewise," the changeling replied.

Rolling her eyes at the seemingly bipolar guys, but glad for the cease in yelling, Raven returned her eyes to her book and once again became immersed in the story.


	2. Who Needs Morning People?

Well, then, here is my completed second chapter FINALLY. Sorry but for some reason i had plenty of ideas and writer's block...kinda contradicts itself, doesn't it? Heh, well, I'm sorry again and I hope you like! Thank you for all of the people who helped me out by reviewing! You guys are the greatest!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else in this story except the plot. If I did, there would be more BB/Rae moments and less fight scenes...

* * *

Chapter 2: Who Needs Morning People? 

_The great beast reared its head back in response to the flat blade against its snout. Roaring in anger, it released a great torrent of flame from its open maw. The good soldier Rorek stood his ground and trusted his life to his shield, holding it against the screaming flames erupting from the dragon. Another flame came forth when the proud creature, called Nencha by her kind, regained breath. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Rorek spun and dodged the fatal attack, running underneath the dragon's soft, unprotected belly. Sliding his sword from the jewel-encrusted black sheath, Rorek… _

"RAVEN!" "RAAVENN!" came a distinctly whiny singsong voice from behind the book's cover. Slamming the book shut, Raven glared at her tormentor with a film of barely visible tears clouding her eyes. Quickly composing herself, she growled "What?" through clenched teeth at the smiling green face hovering inches from hers.

"It's time for breakfast, Raavie! Star made it special!" At the thought of Starfire and food together in the same couple sentences, he shuddered, clearly remembering the Pudding of Sadness and the Glorg incident. Remembering his initial mission, he grabbed Raven's wrist and pulled her up off of the chair. She still refused to walk towards the table, so he ran around the back of her and started pushing her towards it. "C'mon Rae! You've gotta eat!" Groaning from the strain of pushing someone taller than him across the floor, Beast Boy gave up on his heroic mission and trotted back to his seat.

Raven shook herself out of the fog she had just been caught up in. She hadn't meant to defy BB's wish for her to come to the breakfast table, but didn't fully realize he was talking. A thick wave of nostalgia had hit her upon the closing of her book. Cradling the ancient text in her elbow, she started walking towards the seated Titans. As she shuffled across the floor, she glanced at the title of her book. It was called 'The Tale of Rorek of Nor'. Fighting against a wave of tears, Raven looked up and seated herself at the end of the table, as far from everyone else as possible.

While Raven was in her trance-like state of emotional breakdown, trying to calm her emotions so they didn't stir up trouble with Rage, she was subconsciously listening to the conversation at the other end of the breakfast table. "…and then, he passed the Glorg and I uttered, 'but I asked for the Remfar!'" Star was again recounting one of her various Tamuranian stories to the guys, though most jokes they didn't understand because only Cyborg was fluent in her language.

"So, that is why, friends, when you meet a Gorbnak, you always need to have a spare Kornag with you! Ahhahhah ha!" Wiping a tear of joy from her eye, Star glanced over towards her friends. Cyborg was fiddling with a computer monitor stashed in his arm panel, looking up guiltily every few seconds to make sure Star didn't see. Beast Boy was working on a new way to balance a fork on his nose, constantly dropping it but not getting discouraged by his constant failures. Only Robin looked intrigued, staring intently at Star and matching his facial expressions to hers although, for all he knew, he could be grinning at the description of how a Glorg had eaten her pet Zarnig. When she laughed, he laughed, which was a fake 'I have no idea why I'm laughing' laugh that sounded like a dying rubber ducky.

To interrupt this awkward scene came the sound of a buzzer from the stove. Star gasped in glee and clapped her hands, quickly flying over and pulling out a mysterious covered pan. "This, my friends, is a special dessert I have created from the scratch that should be a good ending to our meal this morning."

Looking up in horror, Beast Boy, of course, dropping the spoon for the umpteenth time, the guys started to get scared. Their skin drained of color and their eyes bugged out. All of their mouths were so wide open that Star could probably see the contents of their stomachs. If Raven had been fully present at the moment, she would have commented on their resemblance to fish.

"S-star," Robin began, "What do you mean by special'?"

"Oh," Star said cheerily. "Do not worry, friend Robin. It is the Earth food today, like you asked. I simply followed a recipe I found in the back of our cabinet. They are fully edible to humans, you'll see. It is a surprise until after the breakfast, so please do not ask me to spoil it!" The three terrified teens let out a unanimous breath, their faces returning to their normal post-horror states. (Not, of course, that I'm saying any of them were normal before)

The Tamaranian girl floated gleefully around as the Titans devoured the slightly…gooey…waffles. She had eaten as quickly as her nine stomachs would allow just so she could see her friends enjoy her home-cooked meal. Glancing over at Raven, she furrowed her brows and dropped to the floor. Star walked around the table to stand at her friend's side, surprised to see a blank expression on her face.

"Raven," Starfire said, slightly shaking the dark girl's shoulder, "Raaavveennn. RAVEN!"

At this the boys looked up, and all eyes went to Raven.

* * *

At the conference of emotions in her mind, Raven suddenly felt a disturbance. Her emotions did too, and looked up at her expectantly. "I've got to go," she whispered. Summoning her powers, Raven concentrated and sent a blast of carefully directed black energy into the air in front of her. A slight wind picked up and sucked in towards the swirling mass, tugging at her cloak and hair. Silently, Raven walked towards the wormhole, ripping it open with long tendrils of dark energy, and stepped in. 

A nauseating sensation hit Raven full force, and she almost toppled backwards from the feeling of vertigo. She spun wildly out of control through a long, swirling tunnel and landed smack down in her seat at Titans Tower.

* * *

All of a sudden, the still, unmoving Titan gave a violent jerk, like one would after being hit in the face with a mallet, and slowly opened her eyes and blinked. In her still delicate state of emotional calm, she was very startled to see all eyes on her. Quickly drawing up her hood to mask her embarrassed blush, she looked around menacingly, daring anyone to speak. 

Of course they backed off instantly, returning to their waffles. Star sighed, relieved that her friend was okay. "Friend Raven, would you like to have the waffles for breakfast? I know you don't normally eat the breakfast, but if you would like to today, then…"

Raven looked up and smiled genuinely at her friend for being so considerate. She wasn't really hungry, but didn't want to hurt the poor alien girl's feelings. "I'll take two please, Starfire," she said.

Star looked up, an expression of utter joy on her face. Humming, she plopped a few cooling waffles on the plate and smothered them in syrup and butter. "A…" Raven started to say she didn't want any syrup OR butter, but thought better of it as her friend plopped the plate down in front of her, looking especially joyous. Raven started to chow it down.

* * *

Raven was disgusted with herself. She looked down at her full belly and empty plate and groaned. She hadn't eaten like this since she was a little kid with an oncoming growth spurt. To most people, two waffles isn't much, but to her, it was like stuffing a live elephant down her throat. Fingering the leaf and grape design on the porcelain plate in front of her, she got up from the table to work off the meal. Suddenly, an alarm sounded and red strobe lights went off simultaneously. "Trouble!" Robin shouted.

* * *

At the jail conveniently located in the middle of town, warning alarms were buzzing with the onset of a breakout that the police force stationed there for some reason couldn't stop. A few armed soldiers ran out of the concrete and steel-reinforced doors, yelling for backup. 

"Backup, backup! I need backup at Sector B! When are the Titans going to get here so I can disappear mysteriously and sit on my butt while they fight?" the first soldier called in his muffled, tinny voice.

"Why am I such a loser that I can't stop a few criminals from breaking out? Where are all the other soldiers?" the second one cried.

Suddenly a lone shadowy figure appeared on top of the concrete walls.A dark cape swirled and moved behind him, and he stood up. "Titans Go!" he shouted. Four figures appeared behind him, one with a cloak billowing in the wind.

"Whew," said the first soldier,"I thought they were never gonna come and do our job for us!"+

"Let's go!" cried the second one.

As the wimpy soldiers ran off like scared little kittens, the heroic and sleepy Titans jumped and flew down from the top of the wall dramatically and ran into the jail, which was still buzzing with sirens. Before they saw who they were supposed to be battling, the wall on their left exploded in a flurry of dust and rock, exposing a large, bulky figure obscured by smoke.

"Cinderblock!" Robin yelled, as if the otherscouldn't tell who it was."Titans, go!" he shouted.

After reciting his cliched, cheezy catchphrase, the Boy Wonder ran off towards the angry hunk of rock. Cinderblock roared and slammed his fist into the ground in an attempt to crush the spiky-headed boy. Robin took this advantage to roundhouse kick the villain in the face while he vainly struggled to free his bulky fist from the concrete rubble.

"Urg!" Cinderblock grunted as his hand was freed from the rubble and he reeled back from the mighty blow. The small-brained block of concrete shook his tiny head and started the offense with a mighty backhanded blow that sent the team leader flying.(After this he will disappear until all four of the other Titans have had a turn with the bad guy, unless of course, someone else lands near him)

Next came Cyborg, running up and punching the big lug in the gut. An overly dramatic montage soon followed this with the two heavy-weights punching and blasting each other, alternating sides of the fist. Spit flew everywhere, and Starfire wiped it off of her face before flying up with fists charged, giving a war cry and throwing multitudes of glowing green starbolts at Cinderblock. Dust and smoke flew up off of the villain with each blast that caught its mark. Turning his attention to Star and giving his husky roarof outrage, the bad guy grabbed the Tamuranian girl's feet and slammed her up against the wall before throwing her offscreen onto the still downed Robin. "Eep!" she cried.

Back where thetwo remainingTitans were, waiting in line for a chance to go up against the blockhead, Raven, first in line, powered up her fists with black energy and levitated. She tossed rocks, machinery, and bursts of energy at the confused villain and cried out her catchphrase. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she screamed as she made a clawed fist of energy and shot it at her opponent, who cried out and was carried smack into the wall. He busted through it and smoke billowed everywhere. Before she could see to do anything, a large rock fist shot out of the darkness and hit her in the face. She fell, and so it was Beast Boy's turn to be in the spotlight and finish off the villain.

"Dude, your time is up!" Beast Boy said to the furious rock. He quickly morphed into a T-Rex to use his awesome finishing move, dubbed the T-Rex Two-Step. Both assailants charged at the same time and leaped in tandem. When the smoke from the earth-shattering crash cleared, our little green hero had the screaming and flailing villain in his mouth, crunching with his teeth and shaking his massive head back and forth. Letting go, he allowed the defeated rock man to be slammed into the wall by the forces of kinetic energy and gravity working together.

"Booyah!" Cyborg shouted, that being his catchphrase of course. Robin, Mr. Spoilallthefun, walked up with communicator in hand and a worried expression on his face. "Slade?" Raven asked. "For once, no," Robin answered shortly. "This I don't understand. Raven? Can you decipher this?"

"I'll do my best," she replied,"but I can't give any promises. I know how to read several languages, but"

"No," Robin cut her off. "It's not that kind of problem." He looked at her meaningfully.

Raven gasped as the full meaning of his expression sunk in. "Trigon..." she breathed.

* * *

Well, that's chapter 2 for ya! I know the fight scene sucked, but I was trying to make fun of all the little glitches and things that bug me so much, which the directors do as a shortcut so they don't have to draw a seqence with all of the Titans fighting at the same time, and things like that. I was writing most of this at 4 in the morning, so...Constructive criticism is readily accepted, but please be nice. Again, it IS my first fanficAnd sorry if I seemed to be a little mean to the soldiers, but they just bug me so much with their neverending lack in helping to do ANYTHING. I actually wasn't planning to bring Trigon into this story, but I just go with my story as it goes, and I went with this little idea...but don't worry, there won't be too much more fighting. The next chapter will be a bit fluffy! Thank you, my loyal readers! 


	3. Anger Management

Well, this is Chapter 3! Again, I'm sorry it took me a while but writer's block is a killer. So are family members who also like spending lots of time on the computer. Well, here you go, and sorry again. Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else in this story except the plot. If I did, there would be a season 6, 7, 8...20000, 20001...

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Chapter 3: Anger Management

Raven's eyes were wide and fearful. That word kept ringing in her head over and over. '_Trigon...Trigon..._'She thought her troubles were over with him, until now. She was just beginning to hope that her life could go on, that she could live and, admittedly, love. Without the feared presence of her father in her mind, maybe she could be free to express her emotions a little more. '_I should have known better_' she thought. '_I should have known that he would never leave, that I could never be free...but..._'

Her laments were interrupted by Beast Boy, who held a colorful poster up to her face. "Hey, look what I found!" Evidently he hadn't heard her and Robin's little chat. Star and Cyborg seemed oblivious, too.

"I can't really read it when it's this close to my eyes, Beast Boy," she muttered.

"Oh, right," he mumbled. "Here ya go!"

Handing the piece of paper to her, he bounced up and down in anticipation, bearing one of his trademark elfish ear-to-ear grins. She looked at the rolling, inviting script and eye-burning colors, eyes growing narrower and more disgusted with each line. Tossing the insignificant little waste of tree over her shoulder, Raven proclaimed she was heading out to the T-car. Robin picked up the advertisement from the ground, now smudged with dirt and dust.

CARNIVAL DU MYSTIQUE! It said on the top in big, bold letters. COME WHILE YOU CAN! GAMES, TOYS, PRIZES, RIDES, AND LIVE LION-TAMERS! Located in scenic Jump City! (we are not responsible for injury or mortality from entertainment, rides, toxic food, lions, or angry staff members) THANK YOU AND PLEASE COME! SHOWING FROM SATURDAY TO FRIDAY THIS WEEK!

These words were set on a background of flashy reds, yellows, oranges, and subtle black hues. Pictures of gigantic lions, carnival rides,a cannon, and an extremely scary-looking clown covered any blank spots on the page. Robin snickered at the lively display of stupidity. The small print especially caught his eye and he chuckled. Bad idea. Star drifted over, interested in the goings-on.

"Please, friend Robin, why are you doing the laughing and what is that?"

"Err..Star, don't..." Robin started to stutter but it was too late. She had already grabbed the paper from his hands.

"OH, ROBIN, I WANT TO GO, I WANT TO GO!" she shouted as she squealed and jumped up and down.

"Star, I really don't think we have time..." he began before seeing the look on her face. Her eyes were huge and watery and looking up at him with a facial expression similar to that of a little kitten. Of course, his heart softened at the little-girlish attitude of his teammate and, sighing defeatedly, he gave in.

"Fine, Star, we'll go."

"EEEEE!" She squealed as she skipped and twirled, linking arms with Beast Boy in a wild do-si-do. He was celebrating the chance to rest from fighting, too, and did a few backflips before realizing that Cyborg was waiting in the T-car along with Raven. The jubilant two and solemn third person walked (and skipped) over to the vehicle.

* * *

Back at the Tower, Raven was meditating solemnly above the couch. Star had gone off to her room to water some Tamuranian fungus of hers, Robin was practicing in the gym, (surprise, surprise...) Cyborg was shining and buffing his precious T-car, and Beast Boy had disappeared into the biohazard he called his room to do who knows what. Pure, undisturbed silence filled the common room while she floated, softly chanting her mantra every few seconds.Unbeknownst to Raven, a small green cricket watched her from the chair across the room.

* * *

In her mindscape, Raven was meditating on an island of rock floating in an empty nothingness. Stars dotted the distant black skies and comets streaked through every few seconds. Her emotions whirled about her, a swirling mass of colors revolving around a dark sun. They slowly circled her, menacingly stalking the dark girl. All of a sudden, one color broke out of the trance. It was a bright, burning red. The pigment of it swelled and pulsed, as though breathing, and the living emotion flew in a lightning bolt of pure rage right into her chakra. The calm girl jerked backward with the force of the blow and fell to the ground. 

"No..." she muttered. Her eyes morphed into four red slits, and her dark blue cloak started to flare into a deep, angry red. "Urghh..." she moaned as the emotion continued its attempt to take over. As she tried to scream, a gravelly rasp escaped instead. Raven went into a coughing fit, digging into the ground with her fingers as the heaves shook her body. A deep, controlled voice echoed through her mindscape.

"_Raven...you know you can never escape me. I am part of you, a vital section of your consciousness. Without my help, you would never have had your powers and never would have met your...friends._" With that word, the voice shook with an unspeakable, untamed rage. "_Never underestimate my power. You may have escaped the prophecy, but I will NEVER leave. I am more than a memory. I am real, and I will control the Earth...eventually. Remember my warning..._"

The voice faded away, and the red-colored emotion silently slipped out of her head and into the circle of revolving emotions. With a gasp, Raven sat up and screamed with a horrible intensity. She lost control of her mind and returned to her normal body, falling and slumping to the ground in a mixture of exhaustion and horror. She looked at her hands, seeing her father's trademark symbol printed on the palms. Sighing tiredly, Raven gave in to the persisting unconsciousness. She saw a flash of green and purple out of the corner of her eye before everything faded to black.

* * *

Beast Boy was watching Raven. She looked so peaceful, floating there, meditating. He didn't know why he liked to watch her. Maybe it was because everything else in his life was so hectic and loud, and this silence was his form of meditation. This time was different, though. Raven had begun tossing and turning, sweat beading on her face and a grimace contorting her features. He morphed into human form and watched, wide-eyed. His friend had all of a sudden clenched her fists, and the glow of Trigon's symbols appeared all over her face and limbs. 

Speechless, he stood stock-still as a red beam of light formed around her body. For a moment, the beam swelled, then imploded with a resounding boom. Beast Boy closed his eyes against the painful heat and threw his arms over his face. When he looked up, he was astounded by what he saw. Fire coated the inside of the room, smoking and eating up everything in sight like some kind of ravenous animal. Blue-yellow flames danced along the floor, walls, and ceiling, destroying everything in sight and roaring as it went.

Raven was curled up into a ball, eyes glowing white and, for a moment, her cloak turned red and four red eyes appeared where her two violet ones normally resided. Fear and instinct took over Beast Boy's body and he fled from the room, jumping over masses of flames and burning the soles of his shoes in his haste. Outside the room, there was silence. This felt strange to him, because even though only he and Raven knew of the chaos that was going on in the common room it seemed like the other Titans should be there.

Beast Boy leaned up against the smooth, cool wall and sighed. His heart was beating so rapidly that he could feel his pulse in his wrists. In a futile attempt to calm it he put a palm to his chest. Sinking to the ground, he recounted the events. He was still in shock, and that's probably why he was so calm and wasn't trying to put the fire out. "OHMIGOD THE FIRE! RAVEN!" he screamed as he realized the fire hadn't been stopped and Raven was still in there.

Running back into the common room, he was surprised to find all traces of the fire gone. Not a scorch mark remained on the couch, his shoes were restored, and not a lick of flame was in sight. Raven, though, wasn't in as good a state. She was slumped on the ground, the symbols still covering her limbs, and he ran over to help. She gave a low, weak moan and fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Well, that's Chapter 3! I know it's really short, but I feel like that was a sufficient stopping point, and I'm tired of writing in different POV's... Ok, this is getting a lot more morbid than I wanted. If anyone is getting frustrated with my lack of fluffiness, please punch me in the head as much as you like. I'm sorry, but the story is writing itself. I can't control it anymore...AAAHHH! But there WILL be plenty of fluff in the next chapter, I PROMISE you this time! That's all for now! Thank you soo much for reading it! Buh-bye now! 


	4. Secrets

Well, this is Chapter 4! I'm glad to say that it is a bit fluffier than the last chapter, and hopefully you guys aren't too irritated with me to continue reading. Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else in this story except for the plot, because if I did, BB and Rae would have many, many more moments together.

* * *

Chapter 4: Secrets

Raven groaned. Her head felt like little spiked missiles had exploded in her brain. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a blurred image of the common room before her. The surprising thing, though, was that she wasn't in the same spot she was in when she passed out. Actually, she was laying on the couch with a soft black blanket tucked around her and a fluffy pillow under her head. Confused, she sat up and saw something very interesting. Beast Boy was sprawled out on the other end of the couch, snoring lightly and hugging a pillow. It took some self-control not to snicker at his situation, but Raven realized that maybe he was the one who put her on the couch.

'_Why would he do that? Oh no..._' Raven thought. '_Did he see me when I...lost control? What if he knows?_' Calming down, Raven thought rationally. '_Maybe he just saw me passed out on the floor. Yeah, that's it. He came in to play video games and found me passed out on the floor, that's all. Noone knows what happened, and everything will be fine._' Sighing contentedly at her own logic, she got up and stretched. A cup of herbal tea was exactly what she needed at the moment.

* * *

After making the steaming cup of chai tea, Raven walked back over to the couch and looked at the sleeping boy. He was muttering in his sleep, tossing and turning a little bit. She was surprised to hear her name in the midst of the incomprehensible jumble of words, and walked a little closer to try to hear what he was saying. "Raven...no...not again...Trigon..." he murmured. 

Raven gasped and almost dropped the cup. '_He knows!_' All of her emotions went haywire at that moment, shrieking and crying in fright and worry.

'_He'll tell the others!_' Suspicious wailed.

'_He won't live to tell..._' Rage muttered under her breath.

'_He's our friend...right? I don't think he would tell without permission..._' Timid said shyly.

'_But he might be scared, and tell! I know I would..._' Fear cried.

'_QUIET!_' Raven shouted mentally. '_He will NOT tell, not if I have anything to say about it! So calm down or I'll poke you with a Q-tip again!_' Happy giggled at her dry joke, but all of the others shuddered, remembering their own personal experiences with the Q-tip of doom.

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven saw Beast Boy begin to stir. She decided to wake him up before he left and had a chance to tell the others what happened. Walking over to his section of the couch, she sat on the cool, smooth coffee table and shook his shoulder. It was surprisingly warm and she inwardly shivered at the contact. "Beast Boy...wake up you idiot!" She whispered, "Come on, don't make me drop you in the ocean again! Beast Boy! Wake up! Ugh...what an idiot..." She shook his shoulder again, only rougher this time.

Because she was so close to him, she noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes. '_Probably from worrying about us!_' Love cooed.

'_Shut up!_' Raven growled.

'_Quit loving everyone, and being so annoying when you have a different crush EVERY DAY!_' Irritation shouted, suddenly appearing.

'_Pfft, DUH, it's my job!_' Love yelled.

'_Rrrgh!_' Irritation growled, and the two emotions leaped at each other. They brawled ferociously, pulling at each other's hair and screaming. Rage's presence suddenly appeared.

'_You rang?_' She asked coldly.

'_Okay, STOP!_' Raven screamed. '_Why does this have to happen EVERY TIME any of you get anywhere near each other?_' With a flick of her wrist, she sent a cloud of dark energy to each one and they disintegrated, obviously returning to their homes in her mind.

Back in the common room, Beast Boy was finally seeming to wake up. He cracked his eyes open sleepily, and yawned widely. Raven stared at him, bored, watching him finally recognize his surroundings and blink his eyes blearily. "RAVEN!" he yelped.

"Yeah, listen, about...finding me...did y-OOF!" she grunted as he leaped up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a tight bear hug, almost making her lose her balance on the coffee table. "Yaagh!" she cried. "Beast Boy get off of me...NOW" she intoned in a dark, threatening voice. She felt him stiffen, and he promptly jumped back with a small blush and an embarrassed grin. She turned away and pulled her hood up to hide the blush dusting her cheeks. As much as she hated to admit it, the hug was...nice. A little tingle started up in her stomach as she remembered the comforting warmth of his arms.

"Sorry...I'm just happy that you're ok..." Beast Boy muttered. With that said, his face showed sudden signs of fear and confusion. Now she knew he had seen her lose control. Rubbing her temples with her index fingers, Raven sighed.

"You saw what happened then?" she said softly.

"Yeah..." he looked down at his feet.

"What did you see, exactly? I was in my mind...and I passed out..." she asked.

"Well, what a story!" he said, on a bit of a lighter note. "I saw you, meditating as usual, and all of a sudden, you started making faces and turning back and forth. Trigon's symbols appeared on you and some beam of red light exploded around you. The room was filled with fire, and your cloak turned red and you had four red eyes...and at that point I ran out of the room..." he chuckled nervously. "and when I came back in the fire was gone without a trace. You collapsed on the ground and passed out, so I...put you on the couch to sleep it off...hoping you wouldn't wake up and kill me...and fell asleep watching Danger Team 5.." Grinning stupidly, he waited for the dark girl to respond.

Raven looked on with shock. Groaning, she rested her head in her hands. "Ugh...I just thought Rage got out again...I didn't know it was THIS bad..."

"Easy..." Beast Boy murmured, awkwardly patting her on the back. "It can't be that bad...what's going on?"

"You don't understand!" Raven yelled, startling him enough to make him jerk back into the couch cushions. Calming down, she quietly recounted her and Robin's conversation to her green friend.

"Wow..." he muttered. "I had no idea...I-I don't know what to say." A look of complete and utter shock drifted across his normally smiling face, which quickly turned to fear. "If he's back, then does that mean..." he looked at her questioningly.

"Yeah. If I lose control again, he will try the world domination thing...again." She raised her head up from her hands and choked back a sob. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears and a nearby armchair became consumed in black energy. This only made her more distraught, and soon not only the chair was under her control but the couch, coffee table, and even Beast Boy's feet.

"Uhh...Raven..." he began as the dark energy started to creep up his ankles. Looking up, she gasped and slowly began to meditate, taking in deep, calm breaths. Soon her shaky sobs ceased, and she began to chant her mantra, slower and slower. After a few minutes, she floated down to the floor and opened her eyes.

"Better?" asked Beast Boy timidly.

"Better," Raven replied. She walked over and sat on the couch about a foot and a half away from him. "Thanks..."

"No problem, anytime Rae!" he replied happily.

"You will NOT, under any circumstances, tell the others about this, Beast Boy. Do you understand?" Raven retorted threateningly.

"Cross my heart and hope to..." he screwed up his face, looking for something to say that didn't involve death or pain. "...lose to Cyborg at video games!" he finished proudly and turned to grin at his cynical comrade.

"Don't you usually lose to him anyway?" she asked with a grim smirk.

"Hey! I do not!" he pouted, then gave one of his trademark fanged smiles and lightly punched her shoulder. She gave a small smile in return. Beast Boy always knew how to lighten the mood.

"Oh, by the way, why were you in the common room watching me anyway?" Raven asked suspiciously.

Beast Boy sweatdropped. "Uh...er..ah.oh..umm..." he raised a finger and opened his mouth to talk.At that moment the mechanical doors opened on the far side of the room. Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin stepped out, laughing and talking. They stopped as soon as they saw the two.

"Hey B..." Cyborg said. "Whatcha doing?"

"Er...just..explaining to Raven that video games ARE better than books!" he smirked proudly at this lie that would undoubtedly bring argument from the girl sitting a few feet away from him. She looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of her eye.

"And I was just leaving," she stated as she stood up and portaled through the floor, watching her green friend all the while with an expression that said DON'T YOU DARE. He cringed. Robin arched an eyebrow behind his mask, but said nothing.

"Friend Beast Boy, you do remember the carnival we will be attending tomorrow, correct?" Starfire asked.

"Boy do I!" he replied, jumping up and down on the couch and eventually tripping over his own two feet. He fell backwards off of the back of the couch and landed on his head, eliciting a gale of giggles from Starfire and loud guffaws from his fellow guys. Blushing crimson, which happened to be a stark contrast to his green skin, BB ran over and smacked Cyborg in the back of the head. (which was an impressive feat, considering their differences in size) His anger only made Cy laugh louder, and he eventually fell, literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Raven watched this all from the doorway and rolled her eyes at the guys' antics. Did they have no common sense? The dark girl momentarily forgot her gargantuan troubles and floated off to go to sleep. 12:00 PM was a little late to read anyway.

* * *

Well, that's Chapter 4 for ya! I'm sorry it took so long, but I had a bad case of writer's block! I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to review! As a matter of fact, the button is right there! Just tell me whether you liked it, hated it, whatever. Ok, well, Chapter 5 will finally bring about the main idea of this story...thank goodness...it was going to be this chapter, but I spent a lot more time on the whole 'waking up' thing than I planned...ok, well PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review...hey I'm begging here...you won't get that often...and I will get the next chapter up as soon as possible! Bye! 


	5. The Great Pizza Battle

Well, here's Chapter 5 for you guys. I'm sorry if the last chapter wasn't as fluffy as you hoped, but I'm not one of those people who just make 'em like 'OMG I love you!' or anything. I bring it on gradually and realistically! (well, as realistically as superpowered teens and fanfictions go)But anyway, thank you my loyal readers for again pointing out one of my stupid mistakes, which I make about five times a chapter. Thank you Crazy Sugar Girl for pointing out my brain blip when I said '12:00 P.M. was a little late to read anyway.' I actually meant 12:00 A.M...as in midnight...anyway, without further ado, here is the fifth chapter! (and I am SO sorry it took so long, but hopefully the length of it will make up for my laziness?)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Teen Titans, otherwise NO episode would embarrass me in front of my sceptical friends on account of the over-anime'dness that happens a lot of the time.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Great Pizza Battle

The next morning, Raven awoke to a loud ruckus coming from outside her bedroom door. Getting up, she grabbed her cloak from its hook and slipped it on. The automatic doors slid open with a _whoosh_ and she tried not to laugh at the scene before her. Starfire was walking along merrily, dragging a large, bulky bag of who knows what along behind her. It was scraping along the ground, making a racket, and a hole had worn in the bottom of the sack. All kinds of various Tamuranian items were dropping out, leaving an easily detectable trail of where the alien girl had been.

"Star, what are you doing?" Raven asked in her usual monotone.

"EEP!" Star cried, and easily swung the bulging bag of unearthly goodies at the violet-haired girl's head. Calmly dismissing the heavy bag with a preoccupied blink, which sent a shield of black energy against its side, the half-demon stared at the redhead questioningly.

"I am sorry, Raven!" Star cried, flinging herself across the hallway to administer a bone-crushing hug to her now shocked friend.

"Urrg!" Raven gurgled, slowly turning blue from the deprivation of oxygen.

"Oh! I am sorry!" Star cried, releasing Raven with a sheepish grin.

"No...problem..." the dark girl gasped, taking deep breaths in between words. "So, are you going to answer my question or not?" she muttered.

"Huh? OH! Yes..." the Tamuranian girl said, wracking her brain to remember the former question. "Oh, I am...merely readying the supplies for this Carn of X'hal we are attending today. Do you not celebrate with the traditional Glorg feast and ancient Garshinian attire?" she asked bewilderedly, digging through the bag, eventually holding up a plethra of inedible-looking ingredients and a black helmet with crimson spikes arching out of the browband and neck brace.

Massaging her temples with her index fingers, Raven gave a grim smile and looked at the nieve girl. "Star, this is a carnival. An Earth thing, not a Carn of...whatever..." she finished, feeling slightly sorry for the poor, confused alien.

"Oh..." Star sighed, her face the color of her hair. "Again I have misunderstood?"

"Yeah..." Raven murmured, but catching the expression on her friend's face, she smiled halfheartedly. "Don't worry, it's an easy misunderstanding...kind of. A carnival is still fun, though. There's cotton candy, insane people in clown costumes, overpriced snacks...dangerous rides...Actually, forget I said anything...just, there's cotton candy, let's leave it at that," Raven finished thoughtfully, inwardly smacking herself in the head.

Starfire slowly brought in the information and beamed. "Thank you Raven!" she squealed, forgetting herself and wrapping her dark friend in another near-fatal hug. All that could be heard from the adjoining hallway was a strangled groan and a high-pitched "EEP! I am sorry, Raven!"

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Raven?" Cyborg questioned as he and the others started getting ready to go. They were hunting for money under couch cushions in the common room and looking for old, unused wallets to empty at the carnival.(Hey, no matter what kind of salary the mayor has them on, the damage they do in the city while fighting, not to mention groceries, has to take a huge chunk out of it) 

"Yeah, I'm sure," Raven answered, almost cheerily. She was very pleased to have the Tower all to herself while the others were at the carnival. Starfire had, of course, begged Robin to come with her, and he gave in easily. Cyborg came for lack of anything else to do and for the ride dubbed 'Death Storm' (for good reason, too), and of course Beast Boy and Star came for the fun and frenzy of a carnival.

Right now the green elf was rooting around the fridge for a snack. He evidently was successful because he gave a delighted grin and reached in for something. A puzzled frown then appeared across his face and he pulled back, holding something that looked almost edible.

Looking over, Raven saw a moldy piece of pizza that was stuck to the fridge drawer by a determined-looking glob of blue fungus. On the other end of the pizza was a growling Beast Boy who then braced his feet against the bottom of the mini-fridge and kept fighting for the slice. All of a sudden the fungus creature let go and fled to the back of the fridge with a defeated sob. Not ready for the sudden release, Beast Boy fell back on his bottom and let go of the pizza. It flew across the room with amazing velocity...right smack into Raven's unsuspecting face.

All faces in the room turned simultaneously at the sound of the sickening splat. They saw the half-demon's face covered in rotten pizza, slowly dripping from her chin and revealing her mortified cheese-covered features. Beast Boy looked up with an expression of utter horror on his face and said nervously,"R-Raven, it wasn't me! It-It was HIM!" he cried, pointing into the fridge at the little fungus creature. It gestured towards him with a globby appendage and gurgled accusingly.

Embarrassed and on the verge of losing control of Anger again, Raven wiped the remaining pizza off of her face and slowly walked to the door of the room. "I'm going to take a shower," she said through clenched teeth as she walked through the sliding doors.

* * *

In the common room, a bemused Cyborg and terrified Beast Boy stared at the closing door. "She's gonna kill me..." Beast Boy muttered, a look of shock and horror on his face. "She's just biding her time. Any second now she's gonna come in with her fists all powered up and I'm gonna be swimming with the fishes, dude...literally." 

"Yep," Cyborg said gleefully. "You're gonna get your butt kicked!"

"Gee thanks for the support buddy!" BB exclaimed, a peeved but playful look on his face. Star and Robin just continued looking through the couch cushions, not bothering to get involved in the dispute. Beast Boy knew, though, what he had to do. He didn't need a brain to figure that out. He had to go and apologize to Raven for being such an immature nitwit, or something along those lines.

"I'm going to...I...forgot...something...my room...BYE!" he stuttered, as he sprinted out of the common room, trying not to unveil what he was actually going to do. If Cy found out that HE was going to apologize to RAVEN, he would be the laughingstock of the Tower for a month.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Beast Boy whistled an absentminded tune as he shuffled down the hallway, not exactly sure where he was headed. He guessed he could just walk around until he found her.(Unfortuanately, he had been too caught up with his eminent demise to catch Raven's departing words) Hearing the steady rush of water, he rounded the corner to see a door sliding shut. Tiptoeing over to the aforementioned door, he looked up at the label engraved into the top, which said 'RESTROOM' in large, bold letters.

'_That must be Raven in there..._' Beast Boy thought. Of course he wasn't going to knock on the door and be like 'Raven, I'm sorry that I threw pizza in your face and that I'm intruding while you take a shower!' So he decided to write a note. Fortunately he had a piece of paper ( an old grocery list- 'tofu, steak, Coke, herbal tea, mustard' written in a hasty scrawl ) in his pocket, but what to write with? Before he could figure it out, a beautiful sound came from the other side of the door.

"_How can you see into my eyes like open doors?_

_Leading you down into my core, where I become so numb,_

_Without a soul,_

_My spirit sleeping somewhere cold,_

_Until you find it there and lead it back...home._"

With a gasp, Beast Boy realized that sound was Raven..._singing_. Her voice was crystal clear, high-pitched but still wonderful to listen to, and filled with an amount of emotion that he had never seen her put into anything before. Leaning up against the wall, he simply sighed and enjoyed the music.

"BEAST BOYYY!" he all of a sudden heard Cyborg's voice boom through the Tower. "WE ARE LEAVING NOW AND IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OVER HERE WE'RE LEAVING YOU BEHIND!" That was enough to make him jump up and pause hesitantly, not wanting to stop listening to her voice. He made a decision, though, and began to sprint to the garage and the waiting T-car. What he didn't know was that, as he ran, the grocery list slipped from his hand and drifted to the floor lazily.

* * *

Ok, I lied. They DIDN'T get to the carnival in this chapter, so sue me. I tried, I really did, but I got to a good place to stop, and I figured you guys were ticked off enough with me, so I decided to go ahead and end it there. I will try to make up for it, though, by trying to get chapter 6 up TODAY or at least in the next few days (and yes, I know that 'swimming with the fishes' is not the right cliched term, but 'sleeping with the fishes' sounded...well, yeah.)...So pleasepleaseplease review and cuss me out or whatever but just review and I'll get the chapter up faster...more reviews means more chapters! Whoohoo! Well, I hope you liked and I hope to hear from ya! 


	6. Carnival Du Mystique

Hey you guys! How's it hangin'? So...yeah. Here is the 6th chapter...I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT, yet again, DO NOT own Teen Titans or anything else in this story except for the plot! Happy, administrator people?

* * *

Chapter 6: Carnival Du Mystique

The loose gravel crunched under Beast Boy's feet as he stepped out of the T-car. He grinned and breathed in the smell of the carnival. The mouthwatering scent of cotton candy, funnel cake, and other overpriced, heart attack-inducing snacks greeted the four Titans as they tromped across the parking lot towards the carnival. Giggling from excitement, Star flew in circles above the others like a crazed sparrow.

Loud laughter was heard from up ahead as the Titans topped the hill. All four stopped in awe at the sight before them. All of the guyshad been to a carnival before, but they had never seen one so...extravagant. Little shops dotted the landscape, each with a shouting vendor inside, exclaiming how THEIR products were the best. Tired parents walked along behind bouncing kids, and couples walked closely together, laughing and talking. Beast Boy felt a sharp pang at that sight, but as usual, hid his sadness with a grin.

Above the vendors hung the rides. These were what even master-of-all-things-mechanical was gawking at. There were five roller coasters in all, each spanning at least two acres with their fantastic loops and curves. The little kiddie rides were spread out evenly among the vendors, giving them all a chance to sell something as the kids walked by. (OOH! Mommy, I want one of those! We have to wait in line anyway!) A few flat one-story buildings stood in the back of all the festivities, but their titles were unknown due to the massive Ferris wheel that towered in the middle of everything.

It was at least five hundred feet tall and had flashing lightbulbs around the edges and on the asterisk-shaped row of support beams. Those would flash like so many little comets when it got dark out, attracting the feeble-minded folk to the ginormous structure. A flimsy wooden fence decorated with streamers and colorful balloons surrounded the carnival, keeping in the customers so they would have to pass by souveneir and food stands to get out.Tall palm trees laced the landscape, and thickly forested mountains stood in the background not too far behind it all.

Robin summed up just about all of their thoughts with a long, low whistle.

* * *

Back at the Tower, Raven was enjoying the serenity and peace that came with the others' absence. Walking out of the bathroom, wearing a clean jumpsuit and cloak that wasn't covered in old pizza, she was drying her hair with a towel. As she stepped into the hallway in her bare feet, she almost slipped and fell. 

"What the..." she mumbled as she looked at the bottom of her foot. Stuck to her heel was a blank piece of paper. Turning it over, she could make out a list written in a hasty, rushed handwriting. 'Tofu, Steak, Coke, Herbal tea, Mustard' was written out on the scrap of paper. Judging by how the word 'Steak' had a pen-sized hole through the center of it, Raven guessed at who wrote the list.

Before dismissing the paper, though, she realized something. When she went into the bathroom to take a shower, there had been no paper there. Even if Beast Boy had forgotten something in his...room...(she shuddered at the thought of calling that pig sty a room) the path from the common room to his room and back went nowhere near here. Crumpling the paper up, she clenched her fists and stomped back to her room. The only thing he could be doing up there would be_...listening,_ and that was not supposed to be heard by anyone. If he made fun of her when the others got home, she promised herself that he would be hanging from the ceiling fan by his underwear for hours, while the fan was on.

* * *

A sickening smell wafted from the nearby trash can. The Titans were waiting in line for 'Death Storm', and the latest batch of victims...err...occupants...had just departed. They took turns hurling into the trash can, and thus a second 'trash can line' was formed. 

"Dude, Cy, are you sure we want to go on this ride?" Beast Boy asked nervously. Starfire had paled at the sight of the trash can line, and even Robin was tugging at his collar and gulping. Cyborg, however, was grinning maliciously and rubbing his hands together. He couldn't stop talking about how awesome the ride was going to be and couldn't wait to get on. It seemed he didn't care about the innumerable people, green in the face, who staggered off of the ride like drunks and emptied their stomachs into the trash can.

...Twenty minutes later...

"Urrg...uhgh..." Cyborg groaned as he hurled into the trash can for the fifteenth time. Someone behind him yelled, "Hurry up! You're holding up the line!"

The other three Titans stood nearby, tsking and grinning, though they had had their own experiences with the trash can only a few minutes before.

"Aww, Cy, you couldn't handle the ride? I thought you said it was soo weak..." BB quipped.

"Yeah, to quote, you said 'I've seen pony rides more exciting than this hunk of junk'" Robin threw in.

"And that it looked SO much better on the brochure!" the little elf said, grinning like a maniac.

"I am sorry, friend Cyborg, that you are ill, but why were you doing the 'girly screaming' during the ride? If you believed it to be weak, that is..." Starfire meekly questioned. The two boys who weren't...paying tribute to the garbage can...laughed hysterically at this and clutched their sides, eventually having to stop to catch their breath. Robin's face was blue, while Beast Boy's was more of a...seafoam green, if you will.

"Okay, you've had your fun, now can we GO?" Cyborg groaned, finally having emptied his stomach of breakfast. Wiping his mouth off, he followed dejectedly as the others trooped over to the next ride.

* * *

Raven meditated silently above the couch in the common room. The sun was almost at its 'noon' point, shining through the huge windows and casting long shadows of the items in the room. She was unusually paranoid, as if the lack of Robin in the Tower made another person adopt his personality flaws. Glancing over her shoulder every few minutes, she kept thinking some villain was going to come jumping out of the large dark shadows that blanketed the area. 

'_My gosh..._' she thought to herself. '_I need to stop doing this, I'm acting like Robin!_'

Calming down, she took a deep breath and spun around, still hovering in midair. Looking over the heavily shadowed landscape with her violet eyes, she sighed softly. Nothing was there. Before she could turn back around, though, she felt a violent tug at her cape.

"YEAAGH!..." she screamed as she lost control and fell onto the couch, head hanging over the seat and legs over the headrest. A chair blew up next to her and all of the contents of the kitchen cabinets flew out and banged against the opposite wall. Slowly opening her eyes, she was startled to see a chubby little face staring into hers. The eyes were black and the pupils were dilated horizontally into slits. The little creature grinned, exposing sharp, pointy teeth and disgusting breath. Before she could do anything, it opened its mouth and licked her clean across the face.

Spluttering and coughing, Raven sat up and yelled, "SILKIE!" Indeed it was the mutant moth larvae Starfire had adopted as her pet. He gurgled and bounced about, trying to lick her face again.

"No, Silkie! Down! No, DOWN!" Raven cried out as the little creature jumped up on the couch and wiggled around like a hyperactive terrier. Forcing down a giggle that threatened to come up, Raven took hold of herself and levitated Silkie into the air while fixing the mess she just created.

"You need obediance training," she said, knowing he didn't understand her. "Silly little mutant."

...an hour later...

Raven was sitting indian-style on the couch, reading one of her ancient tomes for the third time. She was absently petting a purring Silkie with her left hand while the other traced the creased, wrinkled pages of the text as she read. Constantly her mind was wandering off to the other Titans, and what they were doing. Were they having fun without her?

'_No_,' she thought. '_Don't think like that! Of course they're having fun, they're at a carnival! But...they're having fun without me...would they have more fun if I was there?Less?_' Sighing, Raven tried to continue reading her book.

After about five minutes, she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't keep her mind on the book, Silkie, or meditation. This must be what the others, especially Beast Boy, referred to as _boredom_. Sighing with regret, knowing that what she was about to do would change her life forever, Raven switched on the T.V.

* * *

Starfire contentedly munched on her cotton candy as Robin walked away from the sly, greasy-looking vendor, tucking his wallet back into his utility belt. Beast Boy and Cyborg were trying to see how long they could stare at the top of the Ferris Wheel, ignoring the discomfort of the cricks in their necks. 

"Can we get on the Ferris Wheel now, Robin?" Starfire questioned innocently, gawking at the huge ride in front of them.

"No Star..." Robin said, blushing slightly. "Don't you want to wait until sunset, when the lights are all on and the stars are out?"

"Oh yes, Robin!" Star said happily. "Of course, how silly of me!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other knowingly, snickering softly and glancing sideways at the Boy Wonder and the alien.

"They are too obvious for their own good," Cy whispered, nudging Beast Boy with his elbow. However, seeing as there was about a 3 foot difference in height between them, Cy's titanium elbow caught his buddy in the temple.

"Oww..." Beast Boy groaned, clutching his head and staggering over to collapse into a nearby bench. "Jeez, Cy, could ya be a little more careful? Almost gave me a concussion..."

"Whoops, sorry, little man," Cy said, concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but I think I need...a soda. You owe me one anyway, remember?"

Rolling his eyes, Cyborg remembered the day Beast Boy saved him from an unusual villain.

_"Yo, Cy, what flavor ya want?" Beast Boy called from the ice cream stand. _

_"Umm...how 'bout cookie dough?" Cy called back, preoccupied with a mass of circuitry in his lap. The two were hanging out in the park while Star and Robin played Frisbee nearby and Raven read a book beneath a shady tree._

_"Okay," Beast Boy called back, pulling out his dangerously thin wallet and handing the ice cream man a 10$ bill._

_"Why thankee, sir," the guy behind the ice cream trolley said in an obvious Texan accent, tipping his hat. "Here you go, enjoy!" he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he handed over the two heaping waffle cones. Cy of course had his cookie dough, and Beast Boy had a non-dairy frozen yogurt, vanilla flavored._

_"Toss it over here, man!" Cy called, holding up a hand._

_"You kidding? You're gonna drop it, Cy! And I am NOT paying for another one! I see through your evil plot!" BB called, grinning and feigning horror and open-mouthed shock._

_"You're right!" Cyborg called back, doing his best impression of an evil villain. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha! And I will monologue until you DIE!" he cackled, pointing at his chuckling green friend._

_"Yeah, right, I think I'd fall asleep first!" BB said, coming over and handing Cy his ice cream._

_At that point, an old woman walked into the park. She was one of those ladies who looked like she just came out of sewing club, with her gigantic purse over one shoulder, a knitted shawl over her neck, and a long floral dress that looked like it just came out of a "Stepford Wives" commercial. Her gray hair was up in a tight bun, and she walked with dainty, premeasured steps through the park, staying exactly on the walking path the whole time. As she walked by the bench where the two Titans were sitting, a large pink ball of yarn dropped from her purse._

_Cyborg, being the nice guy he is, picked up the yarn and tapped the lady on the shoulder. She didn't notice him, so he grabbed her elbow. She stopped and turned around. Just as he was getting ready to hand the yarn back to her, he got blindsided by a very heavy purse._

_"MUGGER!" the lady screamed. "I'M BEING MUGGED! CALL THE TITANS!"_

_"Yo! OW! Hey, lady, calm down!" he cried as she continued beating him with her purse._

_"That's right, go away, mugger!" she yelled as he started to back up, not wanting to give her more stigma to beat him senseless._

_At this point, Beast Boy, straining hard not to laugh, picked up the once again dropped yarn and got in-between the old lady and his friend._

_"Whoa, whoa," he said. "Ma'am, I'm a Titan, and I'll take care of this 'mugger' guy. Here's some yarn ya dropped from your purse."he continued, handing it over and fighting hard not to burst out laughing._

_"Why thank you dearie!" the old lady said, tucking back some hair that had come loose from her bun and grinning. Beast Boy hoped her dentures wouldn't fall out from smiling so much._

_"Here, have a cookie!" she said in her high-pitched voice, shuffling around in her bag for a box of chocolate chip cookies and stuffing one in his mouth._

_"Tank ou..." he muttered as best he could with his mouth full of cookie. The old woman walked away, humming and muttering to herself about needing to call her granddaughter for the fifth time that day._

_"Cy, you owe me one, man!" Beast Boy called to his friend, who was still shocked that the old lady packed such a punch._

_"Hey, B, whaddaya think she's got in that purse? Bricks?" Cy muttered._

_"Neh, I think she may have the world's largest stockpile of cookies, though!" BB said back, grinning and licking his lips. "And that was good, too! No wonder she's afraid of being mugged by every guy over 6 feet tall!"_

_"Ok, ok, I owe you one then. Now shut up and don't tell the others about this, got it?" Cy asked nervously._

_"Aye aye!" Beast Boy said, saluting._

"Ah, good times. Good times..." Beast Boy muttered, also reminiscing. "So, Cy, you gonna get me a soda or what?"

"What flavor, B?" Cyborg said back, sighing in defeat.

"Umm...how 'bout...Coke! And Fanta! And Root Beer!" Beast Boy called as Cyborg walked away towards the nearest overpriced refreshment stand.

Cyborg groaned. This was going to be a bad day for his wallet.

* * *

"Buy, buy, buy! All items being liquida-" 

_Flip._

"Hey Patrick, do you want to go jell-"

_Flip._

"Next time on _The Tragedy of Two Actor-_"

_Flip._

"But in the end, it doesn't even matter..."

_Flip._

Raven sighed. "Silkie, how can people watch so much T.V.? We get two thousand channels and still nothing's on!"

Silkie only gurgled in response.

"Great, now I'm talking to myself too!" Raven cried, uncharacteristically throwing her hands into the air. She got up from the couch to fix a cup of herbal tea, still wondering what she could do to keep from being..._bored._ The word sounded foreign to her, like laid-back would to Robin.

Reaching the cabinet, Raven shuffled through her various boxes of herbal tea. She had a great assortment, including Lipton teas and a tin of old-fashioned tea from England, which was a gift from Cyborg when he went there for a vacation one year. Reaching into the back of the cabinet, standing on her tip-toes, she felt the edge of a box. Pulling it out, she dusted off the front. _Tazo_, it read. She knew that _Tazo _meant something along the lines of 'the king's treasure' from the scant Earth teachings she pried off of Azar.

'_Hm,_' Raven thought. '_I don't remember this tea being here._' She opened the box and looked at the types of teas. Evidently this was an assortment of 'Tazo' teas, because there were ten different-colored packets. Among them were flavors like _Awake, Calm, Lotus, _and _Zen. _

'_Wow,_' she thought to herself. '_This is either a good marketing scheme, or this is really good tea._ _How the heck did I get it?_'

Turning over the box, she felt a rough edge that didn't seem like part of it. It was a note. Pulling the sticky note off of the box, she read its message. _Happy Birthday, Raven, _it said._ I hope you like it. From: Beast Boy._

Raven stared in open-mouthed shock for a moment, not able to believe that she had either never seen this or had forgotten about it. This was a thoughtful gesture, something she could enjoy, not like a little toy or something she would expect from him. The worst part of it was that she hadn't known about this present during the whole time from her birthday till now, and he hadn't said anything. He could of at least told her of it, and he probably thought this whole time she had shoved it into the trash or something. This must be what the others called _guilt._ Shaking her head, the dark girl decided on a flavor.

'_Calm might be good,_' she thought. '_I'll save the Zen for when I'm in a great need to meditate._'

She set the kettle to boil on the stove, and stared at the little packet of tea. A description of the tea and its origins was printed on the back. It read: _A single cup of Tazo Calm has been known to have the same effect as sitting for 45 minutes in a mountain meadow on a sunny day with your shoes off. _Almost chuckling at the image, she caught herself and waited for the water to finish boiling.

As soon as the whistle sounded, she tore off the top of the packet and moved the kettle off of the heat. She dropped the little tea bag into the water, and almost immediately a wonderful aroma flooded the room. Sighing, Raven slumped against the counter. Already the smell was making her mouth water, but at the same time she was getting tired. Yawning, she glanced at the teapot. A thick, dark cloud of liquid was slowly enveloping the rest of the water, stifling off any view of the bottom.

It seemed it was ready now, so she gently lifted the tea bag out and threw it in the trash while grabbing her favorite navy mug out of the cabinet. She poured the tea into it and left the kettle on the stove. Already anticipating the taste, she walked over to the couch and settled down into her favorite spot in the cushions. After just taking a sip, she sighed and gave a small smile. '_For once, thank you Beast Boy. This was exactly what I needed._' she thought, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Well, that's it. Hopefully you didn't get bored with all the stuff I packed in there, but I was trying to make it long. And yes, I do make fun of Robin a lot, but it is just too fun to stop! Sorry, I felt cruel this chapter...but come on, everyone knows he's as paranoid as a dog with a new squeaky toy.(And I know there's a good reason for it...) Okay, thank you for reading and please review! 


	7. Fireworks and Old Reminiscings

Wow…I got so many reviews…5 in a day! (Well, that's a good turnout for ME, anyways...) That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…thanks guys! Well, not much to say except...enjoy Chapter 7 and sorry about the long wait! I had serious writer's block with this chapter, not to mention I had to finish a term paper I had procrastinated on and was bogged down with finals and such... you know, the end-of-the-year rush...and also, you may have noticed that I upped the rating. I only did this because of possibly more graphic violence or extremely minimal cussing, but nothing much more. I just don't want some 9-year old kid getting freaked about some guy throwing up or getting socked in the stomach or something...anyway, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or anything else in this story except the plot...as always...

* * *

Chapter 7: Fireworks and Old Reminiscings

_Sluurp..._

_Sluuurp..._

_Sluuurrpp..._

Cyborg's human eye twitched as he glanced over at his green friend, who was slumping down in the bench, halfheartedly slurping from a nearly empty cup of soda. All that was left in the bottom was ice, so the straw was making that all-too familiar irritating crackly noise that peeved anyone who was already in a not-so-great mood. Cy stayed quiet, though, because he knew neither of them were in the mood to argue. Robin and Star were lucky enough to be on a mock 'Mr. Freeze' right now, but he and BB had been turned down.

Why? Well, the staff complained that the ride already had a huge line and would be on maximum capacity all day, and Cy's 'extra weight' would put the occupants in danger, not that they weren't already. Their complaints against BB were simply that he was too short to 'safely' ride the ride (by about 2 inches).They tried to explain that they were superheroes and could easily handle an amusement park ride, but the dumb ticket attendant couldn't understand anything more than carrying out his job and receiving his paycheck.

Cyborg understood that his weight may overbalance the coaster, and wanted to keep the passengers from getting hurt, but was still a little irritated. Beast Boy, however, had taken the charges very offensively because height was something that had always been his downfall. Cy felt sorry for the little guy, but kind of envied him because no matter how cool it was to be able to toss a bus across the street or use a skyscraper as a baseball bat, his own bulky weight slowed him down. He figured being small sometimes had its perks. This, unfortunately, was not one of those times for his friend.

"Yo B," Cyborg said, breaking the tense, angry silence. He glanced nervously over at his friend, who stopped staring into space and looked over at him with an intense, hard look in his emerald eyes.

"Yeah?" Beast Boy replied gruffly, his eyes returning to the empty space in front of him.

"Um...do you want to, like, go do something other than sulk?" Cy retorted, raising his eyebrow and turning to BB, resting his left elbow on the back of the bench.

"Sounds good," the elfin teen said, some of the old cheer and playful sparkle returning to his voice and eyes. Grinning, he tossed the soda cup over to the nearest maggot-ridden trash can, making a clean basket. "Yup, I'm the best, as usual!" BB quipped, mostly to himself, making a muscle and smirking.

"Yeah, you're the man," Cy grumbled, rolling his eyes. Well, at least Beast Boy was back to his old self. Was that really such a good thing though?

* * *

'_Poor friends..._' Star thought as she and Robin stepped forward in the line. She felt sorry for her friends Cyborg and Beast Boy for being left behind, but this was beyond her power and they had insisted she and Robin ride the ride anyway. Despite her sadness, she had been fairly eager to try out the ride. Only about ten people were left in front of them, and Robin was tapping his foot impatiently. She giggled inwardly at this, silently regarding his impatience. The alien princess watched his spiked black hair bob from side to side as he cricked his neck and checked the time on his communicator. 

Why she chose to wait twenty minutes for a thirty second ride she didn't know, but evidently this ride was a 'hit', as Robin had mentioned earlier, and she was 'hooked'. Disgusted, she stared down at the floor. It was littered with empty refreshment cups, dirt, some substance she wasn't too sure of, and discarded gum, some of which had stuck to her boot. Grimacing, she lifted her foot up and snapped the gum easily, but shuddered. One of the many things she didn't understand about humans was their unsanitary habits.

8 8 8 8 8 8

Robin had been watching her stare at the floor with an uncharacteristic scowl on her normally bright and happy face. For some reason, it saddened him to see her like that, angry and disgusted. He decided to try and lighten the mood, normally a task left for Beast Boy, who unfortunately wasn't present at the moment.

"Yeah I know, Star. Nasty, huh? But if you think this is gross, I don't think you should ever visit Paris..." Robin said, sighing and looking up at Star's bright jade eyes.

"What is this 'Paris' you speak of, Robin?" she questioned innocently, widening her already large eyes.

Sighing and chuckling a bit, Robin raised his pointer finger and opened his mouth to reply. Before he could, though, someone bumped into him from behind, catching him off guard and making him stumble into Starfire. Both flushed a deep crimson, with Star grasping her masked friend's forearms to steady him and he leaning slightly on her shoulder, but their embarrassment was quickly dissolved as a slurred voice called out from the direction in which the jostling had come.

"Youu move outta' my way and no'un gets hurrt, aiight?" an apparently drunk and distinctly male voice drifted out from the person who had shoved Robin.

The alien princess turned her attention from her spiky-headed friend to the person behind him and gasped. Robin whipped around swiftly and put his hand protectively to his utility belt, ready for anything. In the midst of the lines that were now jumbled up a bit stood...or, rather, swayed...a greasy-looking man of about 30 who was holding up a water gun. He waved it around like a real weapon and stumbled drunkenly towards the two Titans, who were now amused. A baggy, torn pair of gray slacks rested on his hips and a heavy black hoodie covered his torso and midsection. Large, dirty sneakers donned his feet, unlaced and clomping against the concrete walkway with every stumbling step. Dark sunglasses shaded his eyes, while his long, unwashed brown hair flopped lazily over the sunglasses and spilled out from his hood.

"Put yur han's ap naow -'hic'- er ahl shoot! Ahm a-robbin' thees here baynk!" he cried in a terribly liquor-loosened voice.

"Bank?" Starfire questioned. "I thought this was a..."

"Shush..." Robin cut her off softly. She looked at him questioningly, but closed her mouth and put her finger over her it as a sign that she understood. Slowly, Robin and Starfire raised their hands over their heads along with the crowd of people after nodding for them to do what the man said. Unbeknownst to their drunken 'captor', Robin held a smoke bomb in his right hand, wedged in between his index and middle fingers.

* * *

"And the winner is...lucky number 7!" the game host cried out into the microphone, walking over to the winner and raising his hand up by the wrist. It was one of those games where you squirt the water-gun at the target as soon as the bell rings, trying to build up enough water pressure to bring your little stuffed plush toy to the top of the meter. The host handed the winner a large stuffed panda, and the kid was elated, grinning proudly and pumping his fists into the air. He couldn't have been more than 15, and sported a shaggy blond hairdo, black and red _Element_ t-shirt, and tan cargo pants. Pure white _Phat Farms_ accentuated his perfect pretty-boy persona, and a very, very skinny blond girl stood near him, entertwining her fingers with his and pulling him up from his stool. He then handed her the panda, and she smiled widely and hugged him. 

The crowd _aww_ed as the couple started to kiss, but two figures stood impassively from the sidelines. One was large and bulky, and towered over everyone else in the crowd, while the other was short and slight, and fidgeted around constantly.

"Let's go, Cy!" Beast Boy whined nervously, trying not to notice the center of the crowd's attention. "There's plenty to check out while Star and Rob have their fun! Maybe I can win something...over there!" He pointed to a beverage stand wildly, not paying much attention to the direction his finger suggested.

"And...you plan to what? Barter for not having to pay the extra ten cents for a straw?" Cy intoned, smirking.

"Uh...huh. Er...yeah. Um...there?" The elfin boy pointed meekly to a 'pop the balloon' game where a small child was aiming a dart at a large, swollen pink balloon. She hit it dead-on and clapped happily, jumping up and down. That is, until a thin stream of pink paint splattered itself expertly in an arc from the dying balloon to the girl's sunshine yellow jumpsuit. Her lip trembled for a moment, then she let out a wail loud and piercing enough to wake the dead.

"MOMMEEE!" She cried, sobbing hysterically. "THAT-THAT-TH-THAT BALLOON RUINED MY CLOTHES!" Her flustered mother hurried over from flirting with a gaggle of men as fast as she could in a tiny jean skirt, midriff-baring sequined top, and five-inch heels.The woman's 'big' hair bobbed as she stumbled towards her little protégé.

"It's all right, dear," she cooed in a soft, encouraging voice. "Mommy will get you a new jumpsuit. A better one! And an ice cream! What do you say?" The little girl nodded soggily, wiping her whole face against her pinkish sleeve and only succeeding in making a mess of pink paint and tears all over her face. Taking her little girl's hand, her mother glared icily at the poor game host and stalked off.

After they left in a huff, the aforementioned host snarled angrily and untied his colorful ticket-holding apron, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it. He grabbed a cigarette pack hidden in the masses of cheap stuffed toys and slipped out of the employee emergency exit. Beast Boy and Cyborg grimaced at the host's disgusting habit.

"O-kay, not there then..." Beast Boy muttered as they walked off.

* * *

"Just...put...the 'gun' down..." Robin said calmly, trying not to snicker at his own seeming ignorance. The drunk man looked at him curiously for a moment before regaining his best hold on the water gun and aiming it at the Titans shakily. 

"I...'hic'...want all o' your money!" the man yelled, losing his balance and slipping forward onto his knees.

Seeing that the man had let his guard down, Robin threw the smoke bomb easily. It landed on the ground and rolled to the man's knees. The force of hitting the concrete had opened a small puncture in the thin steel, and as the chemicals inside came in contact with the oxygen outside the bomb, a chemical reaction occurred. A noxious-smelling smoke rose out of the little ball and engulfed the drunk idiot. Coughing violently, the man dropped the water gun and made an odd gurgling noise. He clutched at his stomach and promptly released all the remains of last night's wild partying spoils onto the floor before passing out into the mess. The sleeping gas had done its work.

After calling the cops via communicator to pick up the pathetic excuse for a man, Robin turned to Starfire.

"On with the ride?" he grinned cockily. He was acting unlike himself, but he didn't care. Starfire seemed pleased, and linked her arm with his.

"Yes, on with the ride, 'hero' Robin!" Star giggled merrily as they walked forward. There were now only three people in front of them, so they would be screaming their heads off soon.

* * *

"YAAAGHH!" Beast Boy screamed as he was hurled around and around endlessly, spinning faster and faster. 

The Gravitron was one of the most notorious theme park rides for either giving you a massive headache or the amazing ability to paint the walls a lovely whatever-you-ate-last color in a span of about ten seconds. So, naturally, the guys wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, it seemed both of them would recieve the latter symptom. Both were turning shades of green, Beast Boy adopting more of a lime-green shade to his skin while Cyborg visibly paled, but did not hurl because, luckily or not, he had already spilled the contents of his stomach into the trash can a few hours earlier.

Gravity and inertia worked together to press all of the ride's occupants against the padded walls without the need of seatbelts, and the ground had dropped out of the Gravitron about fifteen seconds into the ride. A certain green changeling happened to regret having eaten that foot-long tofu sub earlier...

0 0 0

"Man, that was the...the BEST vertigo-inducing ride I have ever been on!" Cyborg exclaimed as soon as he and his best friend recovered from the head-spinning effects of the Gravitron.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy replied enthusiastically."I couldn't see straight for a full minute!"

"No kiddin'!" Cy laughed, rubbing his stomach. "I'm kind of glad I haven't eaten anything since 'Death Storm', otherwise I woulda ended up like you!"

Beast Boy grimaced, still trying to get the taste of ABC tofu out of his mouth. "Yeah..."

At that moment, Starfire arrived at the scene, dragging a surprised-looking Robin by the wrist.

"Friends! We have discovered your location!" she cried, letting go of Robin and jumping in front of her two surprised pals.

"How was the ride?" Beast Boy inquired, a note of jealousy creeping back into his voice.

"Oh, don't worry, it was all hype," Robin grumbled, irritated. "Thirty seconds of nonstop loops and curves, but definitely not worth the wait. Really, you should be glad those morons kicked you out."

With a relieved sigh, Beast Boy's cheery demeanor returned. "So, it is..." at this, he glanced at the state-of-the-art paper-thin watch that was wrapped around his left wrist under his normal silver glove. "Seven-forty-five. Almost dark, and the fireworks start at eight-thirty! Anything anyone wanted to do last minute?"

"Yes!" Starfire exclaimed merrily, beaming. "Those mysterious one-story buildings in the back of the carnival obtained my attention at the beginning of the festivities!"

Smiling warmly, Robin swept his gaze over his friends. His fellow guys looked at him and nodded, signaling that it sounded good to them. "Yeah, we can go, Starfire. We have enough time to check 'em out before it's time to get on the Ferris Wheel."

The Tamuranian princess squealed in glee and clapped her hands. She led the march through the thick throngs of people, a proud and excited look on her face. Some walked on nonchalantly, used to seeing the Titans around, but a few went bug-eyed and squealed or stopped dead in their tracks, the steady stream of people moving around them like water flowing around a rock. This had been going on all night, but the Titans were used to people staring, not that they enjoyed it.

69 69 69 69

Beast Boy walked along behind his friends, soaking in the night with all of his senses. The sky was gradually growing gray, and the sun was sinking slowly towards the horizon. Almost the moment it sunk completely, the wind whipped around him, tussling his hair and bringing a cool, tangy pine smell down from the mountains. An electric tension hung in the air, indicating a strong chance of thunderstorms. With his heightened senses, Beast Boy could tell. Maybe the storm wouldn't be for a few hours yet, but it was surely coming. The weathermen had nothing on him! Soon, though, the four Titans approached the first building. Before even looking up, Beast Boy felt an instinctive pang of panic in his chest. Adrenaline began flowing through his veins before he even knew why. Finally noticing the title on the building, he gasped and stopped immediately, breath catching in his throat. A mixed flow of fear, rage, sadness, confusion, and deep, bitter hate swept through his stomach as he read the large, dimly lit block letters over and over again. They read _HOUSE OF MIRRORS_.

All three of his friends walked into the building without noticing Beast Boy's pause. He still didn't move, and a lump formed in his throat, refusing to dissolve. An old barrier broke in his mind, and painful, long-hoped-to-be-forgotten memories flowed through in quick, fast-paced bursts. His head swam with memories of..._that night_. Soon, though, Cyborg walked halfway back out, disrupting his thoughts.

"BB? Coming?" he called, furrowing his brow and pointing into the dark interior with his thumb. Beast Boy shook his head, still staring blankly at the building.

"N-no," he called, finally swallowing the knot in his throat and forcing words out. "I...I think I'm going to browse the shops. You go on, I'll meet you guys at the Ferris Wheel. 8:15 sound good to you?"

"Yeah..." Cyborg continued, still confused and worried. "You ok, man? Ya look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"M-maybe..." Beast Boy mumbled softly, not really paying attention. "I'll be fine, just go on in." Without waiting for further questioning, he managed to break the grips of panic holding his legs still and stalked off. Hooking his gloved thumbs into his belt, he slouched as he walked and stared at his feet. Winding aimlessly through the thick crowd, he had no idea where he was going. All he knew at the moment was the swift nostalgia that dulled all of his senses and sent him on a roller-coaster ride of memory. There was no way to stop the slide show of dusty past remembrances that flooded in.

Before he knew what he was doing, however, he wandered right into a bench. Catching himself and rubbing his sore knees, he straightened up and looked around. His eyes stopped on a ramshackle little shop across from him. Squished in between a bustling hot dog stand and a palm-reading tepee, it was drowned out by their extravagance and hard to see in the shadows. A banner titled '_Madame Corbeau's Trinkets and Artifacts_' hung across the top, and the little hut looked like it was about to fall apart. Several small boxes and shiny items sat scattered amongst the wooden countertop that spread all across the front of the stand. The slanting roof reflected the moonlight, sending off an eerie white glow that sharply contrasted the dark interior. A small, ratty-looking old woman sat in the shadows, with a ragged cloth dress accentuating her bony shoulders and elbows and a mop of brittle gray hair hanging down to her ears. At that moment, she looked up, and as their eyes met, a chill ran down his spine. Something in those piercing crystal blue eyes instilled a shock of fear in him, but a warm kindness also showed beneath the icy surface. The scary part of it all was, those eyes seemed to look straight down into his soul. He wanted to fly, run, or just walk away, but he was drawn to the stand by some force, and his legs refused to listen to his commands. They continued moving forward,step by step, foot by foot, until he reached the shop.

The woman smiled up at him. "Anything particular you're looking for, young man?" she questioned in a soft, gravelly voice.

Not able to force words from his mouth, he simply shook his head dully and slowly scanned his eyes over the items portrayed. His gaze stopped on an elegantly styled mirror beset with glinting diamonds and rubies. The face reflected in its surface seemed alien, not like his own. Putting a hand to his cheek, he patted his face. Yeah, it was definitely his, but he looked...different. His normally glowing green skin was pale and sickly-looking, enhanced a bit by the bright moonlight, and his shining emerald eyes were glazed over and sad. Even his elfin ears had drooped slightly, giving him a depressed appearance. Shaking his head, he moved on. A jar of clumpy gray something-or-others sat innocently in the next row of nicknacks, eliciting a grimace from the green boy. He fixed his gaze quickly on the last row and raised his eyebrows. Nestled between a rusty iron dragon statue and a smooth vial of deep purple liquid was a small rectangular box, covered tightly by black cloth. A hole in the rotting roof had allowed a beam of moonlight through, which settled perfectly on it and accentuated silver swirls of silk sewn into the dark fabric. He leaned down for a closer look, and his breath stirred up the dirt that thinly coated the box. It swirled up into the shaft of pale light like fairy dust, winding and twisting in a smoky pattern. Curiosity got the better of him, and he reached out and picked up the little artifact. The woman behind the counter, who had been watching him this whole time, smiled knowingly and rested her chin on her hands. Opening the hinged top of the box, Beast Boy raised his eyebrows even further. Inside, nestled in a bed of dark purple velvet, sat a hollow tube in crosshatching colors of dark blue and forest green, made of a shimmering thread that looked strong. In the light, the colors looked different, the blue catching a violet glow and the green shining with an emerald sheen. There was a small slip of paper under the object, written in strange symbols and characters. This trinket was the ultimate gag, the perfect toy for any prankster worthy of his name. A pair of Chinese handcuffs.

* * *

Stepping lightly out of the dark building, Starfire stretched her arms comfortably. The slightly cramped interior had been strenuous on both the tall princess and Cyborg,who had a tall and bulky frame, so both of them welcomed the open air. A few minutes ago, Robin had glanced at his watch and hurried the group on. It was eight already, and they still needed to meet Beast Boy at the Ferris Wheel and get in line for the ride. Starfire normally would've offered to fly her friends to their destination, but didn't exactly feel confident enough to be able to hold on to both boys while in the air. She didn't want to take the risk of dropping one of them and getting him, and, presumably, a few citizens in the crowd, hurt. Besides, it would be kind of rude to use her powers to get a better spot in line while all the 'normal' people had to walk. 

As the three teen superheroes waded through the throngs of Jump City citizens, several girls screamed and/or swooned at the sight of Robin and Cyborg, and most of the male population stopped in their tracks and drooled when they noticed the redheaded alien. Apparently even the shifty, inconsistent moonlight didn't mask the teens from their fans. The Titans were, of course,used to this kind of attention, but Star couldn't help but feel a stirring of jealousy in her stomach as Robin gave out handshakes and autographs to crazed girls, one of whom kissed him on the cheek. Before she could contemplate any more on the subject, a group of 4 or 5 teenage boys walked up to Starfire nervously. One of them, a kid with black hair and a gray shirt who was holding a scrap of paper and a pen, was pushed forward by his friends and stood, shaking like a leaf, until she asked him if he was okay. He then seemed like he was about to wet himself until a brunette girl pushed forward and pointed at the nervous teen exasperatedly.

"THIS guy wants your autograph, I think. That's more than I can say for the others..." she said, irritated at both his apparent fright and the wierd looks some of the guys were shooting at Star. "Don'cha, Bobby?" she said slowly, as if he was stupid or something.

Bobby nodded, shooting the girl a glare, and cautiously held out the items in his hands. Star took them and wrote her signature. She had perfected the font along time ago, expertly sculpting the letters in a bubbly, fancy script and dotting her 'i' with a heart. After she handed the paper and pen back to him, he glanced at the paper and beamed. Shooting a cocky, I-told-you-so look at his friends, he waved the paper in the air and gave a whoop, disappearing into the crowd. Cocking an eyebrow at Bobby's antics, Star glanced back at Robin and Cy. The boy wonder was signing papers and shaking hands as fast as he could but was still falling behind, and Cyborg was getting swarmed by dozens of giddy girls. Even his little league team was there, yelling and whooping, and Cy hoisted the little boy with the prosthetic hand high onto his shoulders. Smiling, Star giggled at her two friends and deftly swooped her way through the people towards Robin. She felt that they really needed to get moving if they were to meet Beast Boy in time. Cyborg had filled her and Robin vaguely in on the situation in the 'mirror-house'. She didn't quite understand why Beast Boy had suddenly elected to browse on his own, but Cyborg didn't seem to either, so she had decided not to press the matter.

0 0 0

After ditching the crowd by means of running like bats outta hell, the three Titans reached the end of the line for the Ferris Wheel. Amazingly, Beast Boy hadn't arrived yet, despite their lateness.

"Where is friend Beast Boy?" Starfire wondered aloud.

"Yeah, I'd have figured he'da been here by now..." Cyborg said, looking at Robin with his eyebrow arched questioningly.

Knowing without being asked what Cy was thinking, Robin quickly popped out his communicator and twisted the knob. Five colored dots appeared on the screen. The light blue, red, and orange dots were bunched up in a huddle, the green one was a little ways off to the north and moving south towards the huddle, and the dark blue one was quite far west, unmoving.

"Looks to me like he's coming," Robin said, showing his friends the screen to reassure them. "No worries. It's not like he hasn't ever been late before," the boy wonder said with a smirk. The three laughed at that comment, knowing just how true it was.

"Though, he did look pretty miffed. Kinda out of it when he left," Cyborg interjected seriously, a frown appearing on his face. "Looked like he'd seen a ghost or something. Freaked me out a little, haven't seen him like that since..." he stopped, a soft, sad face interrupting his frown. The other two looked down at their feet, the same look on their faces. "Maybe...maybe that's the problem..." Cy said. "I mean, we don't even know what happened that night. Knowing him, this would be his kinda place, and...there was some broken glass in the hamper when I went to get the laundry out of the chutes the next day. Particularly, some stuck in a pair of gray gloves. There was a reflective coating on one side of the glass pieces...they were almost like ..._mirror_ shards."

At this, all three of them looked up with alarm. Who knew Cy had been such a sleuth? All of it made sense, and even Star, who was basically nieve to human ways, knew what was going on. She was an expert on figuring out matters of the heart, well, any heart but her own, anyways. This explained why he had mysteriously left, refusing to enter the house of mirrors. At this point, they started planning to figure out how to help him. Before they could, however, a familiar voice invaded their ears.

"Whatcha talkin 'bout?" Beast Boy whispered, leaning his head into the huddle.

"YAAGHH!" his three teammates screamed, jumping away and falling on their rears. They weren't expecting him to be there already.

Laughing heartily, their green friend extended a hand into the tangled mess. A small hand, followed by a silver forearm guard, reached up and grasped it, using Beast Boy's weight as a balance to keep from falling again. Starfire stood back up, giving him a small smile. She was still feeling sympathetic for his plight, and tried to notice a difference in his behavior. If he couldn't help himself, she would have to find a way to, because seeing a friend in trouble had never been a welcome sight. The two fallen boys got up slowly, dusting themselves off and looking at Beast Boy warily, as if expecting some kind of breakdown. Cocking an eyebrow, the green teen stared back challengingly.

"What?" he asked, irritated. He had been late because of a screaming crowd of fans, and didn't feel like being blamed for the holdup. Of course, this wasn't even close to why they were staring at him, but he couldn't know that they had figured his absence out.

"Nothing!" Robin replied, a little too quickly.

Shrugging it off after a moment's contemplation, the elfin boy looked down the line. They had about five minutes until the fireworks started and about six people ahead of them. If it took every two-person car about a minute to load, they should get on just in time. He grinned and shifted his stance. At that moment, Cyborg noticed Beast Boy's right hand was holding something. It was a plastic bag with some symbol resembling an eye within a triangle stamped on its surface.

"What's that?" the confused half-robot asked, pointing to the bag. It appeared to have something in it, as the cheap plastic was stretching slightly and the stamp was a little distorted-looking.

Looking at the bag in his hand, Beast Boy grinned devilishly. "Only the most awesome gag toy in the history of the world! Found it at some trinket shop while I was browsing. And no, don't even ask if you can see what it is. It's a surprise!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire sighed collectively. Apparently he was back to his old self, and that meant he couldn't be dwelling on...events. The line moved forward as another pair was allowed to go to the platform where they would switch spots with the former occupants.

Starfire found herself excited, as she could not wait to get on this ride.The last time she had been on a Ferris Wheel, she had also seen a fireworks display, and loved every second of it. This time would be even better, she was sure, because she wouldn't suspect a Gordanian attack for even a second!

69 69 69

Beast Boy settled into the rough, spacious Ferris Wheel car next to his best friend just as the first firework speared into the air. It gave off a crackling sound as the rocket exploded out into thousands of colorful blue specks, forming a somewhat flower-shaped mark in the sky. After having gotten used to the somewhat dark area, the intensity of the fiery explosion left a blurry imprint in the green boy's retina. It faded away quickly, but not before a few more fireworks, accompanied by boisterous whoops and cheers, lanced into the chilly night air. Off to his left, Cyborg stared happily out, clapping his hands and hollering with every burst of color. As the wheel slowly turned, the car carrying them raised up higher and higher into the air. Beast Boy laughed and joined in with the cheering, adding his loud yells into the multitude of voices that rang out across the valley.

:3 :3 :3

In front of the boys' car, Robin and Starfire sat, entranced by the wondrous beauty of the show. There were about one hundred cars on the massive Ferris Wheel, meaning that they had a good hour and a half at least to enjoy the ride. The fireworks show was only going on for forty-five minutes, so both cars that contained Titans would give a wonderful top-of-the-wheel view of the finale when it arrived. After that, there was supposedly going to be music playing until midnight, and all throughout the carnival the normal lights would be turned off and the blacklights turned on. Starfire smiled at the thought, and gave Robin a look out of the corner of her eye. The fireworks left a bright glare of varying colors on his face, highlighting the tip of his nose, forehead, chin, and cheekbones with a colorful rainbow of light. Giving a small sigh, she reluctantly turned her eyes back to the show. She would really rather have kept watching Robin, but suspected he would notice. She would never tell him what she thought of him at the moment. A small blush appeared across her nose and cheeks, and she rested her elbows on the lap bar with the palms of her hands on her chin so it would be hidden by the blazing red star of light that was currently flashing across the sky.

This did not go unnoticed by Robin, who raised a masked eyebrow and glanced over at the Tamuranian. The fireworks were lighting her face up with that same glow, and her sparkling jade eyes glimmered like diamonds before the radiance of the fiery sparks that lit the sky. To him, her eyes greatly outshone the beautiful fireworks that burst extravagantly through the air. However, to say that out loud would probably embarrass him to the extent of falling into a comatose state. He didn't want that, so the boy wonder kept his trap shut and stared uncomfortably forward. The tense, shaky silence continued until a bug flew up Robin's nose, causing him to cough and snort violently. Starfire giggled as the little firefly flew out of his open mouth, landing on the lap bar and shaking itself dry like a dog. Testing its wings out by fluttering up into the air slightly, it fell back onto the seat. Starfire giggled again, and put her finger down on the seat in front of the little bug. It crawled onto her hand, and she raised it up to see eye-to-eye with it. Finally regaining some composure, the firefly lit up and spread its wings out, flying off into the night. All she could see of it was a small yellow light fading off into the distance. Robin was still sneezing and rubbing his nose roughly, trying to get the burning sensation to go away. Starfire giggled again, then looked at her disgusted friend, concerned.

"Robin, are you okay?" she asked, smiling lightly and resting a hand on his shoulder. She felt him tense under her grip,so she let go reluctantly. Noticing his embarrassed expression, she grinned.

"Are you mad at the fly of the fire, friend Robin?" she asked teasingly, nudging him with her elbow and shifting in her seat to face him.

He cleared his throat nervously and tugged at his collar, shooting the princess a small, uneasy grin. That nervous motion of his brought up an old memory in Star's mind, one from a dangerous volcanic canyon on a strange, nearly deserted planet. He had done the same thing, clearing his throat and tugging at his collar, after she had asked him why she was neither a girl nor his friend. Later, in a firelit cave, she had almost gotten him to admit why he had been so distressed earlier at the mention of the word 'girlfriend', but the armadillo-like alien creature they had been fighting before crash-landing on the odd world had interrupted. She still wondered what he would have said, and maybe...maybe now was the time to ask.

"Robin?" Star asked softly. He looked over at her questioningly, and she continued. "Remember when we were on the planet? Fighting the monster that screamed very loudly?" He nodded slowly, realizing what she was getting at. "Well, in the cave, you were going to continue the speaking when it interrupted your line of thought, and I...I am wanting to know what you would have said had he not interfered," she said, blushing slightly and looking into his...mask. That said mask scrunched into a thin slit of fabric as Robin furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

"Well...um...S-Star?" he said, voice cracking into a nervous high-pitched tone. "Um...I was going to say that...that I actually...really enjoy, uh, having you as a 'friend that is a girl'," She brightened, putting her hands on the seat and leaning forward, and he gained the courage and confidence to continue. "Also, um, I think that you're...ah...uh, really pretty and...no. Not just pretty. Beautiful."

He set his face with firm seriousness on the last line, though blushing crimson, and her eyes shimmered with tears of joy.

"Do you really mean that, friend Robin?" she murmured dazedly, a huge plume of a purple firework lighting her up from behind as the wheel slowly turned, raising them higher into the sky. The higher they climbed, the colder it got, and they unconsciously scooted closer to one another to stay warm.

"Of course," Robin said with a soft expression on his face. "Of course I mean it, Star."

With that said, he gently placed his gloved hand over hers. The two slowly leaned towards one another, and Starfire softly closed her eyes as their lips met. A thrill of pure ecstasy rippled up and down her spine as Robin kissed her gently. After the initial moment of shock, she returned the kiss, and found her hands wrapping themselves around his neck. He embraced the small of her back after a moment's hesitation, and she felt warm and safe in his arms. Also, the fireworks finale had started as soon as Robin kissed her, highlighting their silhouettes in a red and orange glow. A loud crackling sounded in the background as a sparkler erupted, sending a shower of fairy dust into the midst of everything. Another sound interrupted the dazzling firework, but it was not part of the show. A loud blast of thunder shook the earth, and a flash of lightning crackled down to the ground somewhere in the mountains, glowing and dancing with an unearthly aura. In a moment, rain poured down in buckets, soaking the two teens and causing the firework's embers to seem to melt down into the earth like a waterfall. If anything, it enhanced the 'Cloud 9' feeling both were encompassed in.

As the finale ended with a large, heart-shaped shower of green and navy blue sparks, the blacklights came on with a mystic air, and simultaneously the stereos came to life, blasting out '_Broken_' by _Seether featuring Amy Lee_.

69 69 69

Watching the fireworks finale with dancing eyes, Beast Boy gaped in awe of the sight before him. He almost forgot to feel sad about the last time he had ridden a Ferris Wheel because of the amazing plethra of multicolored sparks that met his eye. It only increased his awe as the aforepredicted storm started up suddenly.When the first bolt of lightning crashed down to earth, the shapeshifter had a strange feeling. Craning his neck upwards, he gasped and almost laughed out loud at the sight.

"Cyborg!" he yelled urgently. He could barely be heard above the crashing sound of both the forces of nature and the fireworks, but tried nonetheless.

"What?" Cy yelled back, confused. Beast Boy pointed upward, and Cy leaned back to see. Then a huge smile graced his face, and he laughed out loud. "'Bout time!" he yelled, still laughing. The green elf couldn't help but laugh too as he thought of his friends who were caught up in each other above him.

:3 :3 :3

Star sat, feeling the rain patter over her head and shoulders again and again. She didn't care, because she was the happiest she had been in a very long time. That was saying something, considering her nearly constant ecstatic mood. She was sitting in the Ferris Wheel car, snuggled up next to Robin with her face nestled in between his head and shoulder and her arms wrapped under his left arm and around the right side of his neck. He had his left arm casually draped over her shoulders and his head leaning against hers comfortably. There was no doubt in her mind as she snuggled in closer that she had ever been or would ever be more relaxed than she was now.

* * *

So, that is the seventh chapter of Quality Time and my longest one yet! Again, I am so sorry I took so long, and sorry for all you fellow BB/Rae shippers out there who were expecting some fluff this chappie! I concentrated on Star/Rob because, of course, they were in the same place at the same time! Next chapter, though, I will finally get into the story, and hopefully some fluff. I know I was going to this time, but it ended up taking so long, and I think the explanation of the upcoming 'problem' will take up a whole chapter's space! So...please review, tell me what you thought of it, and I will hopefully update again soon! (Oh, and if you see anywhere that there are missing spaces between words, which there will most likely be, don't hate me for it because fanfiction has some sort of glitch that erases spaces when I save. I do my best to catch them all when going over the chapter, but I may not catch ALL of them, you know? Especially with longer chapters like this!) Anyways, um, bye! 


	8. The Art of Ignorance

Hello everyone! I'm back! By the way, the whole scene with Raven and the tea cabinet in Chapter 6 is basically what I do when I'm in the mood for tea (which is often). Seriously, I have a whole half of a cabinet full of Lipton teas, green teas, Irish teas, a tin of tea from England, and a box of assorted Tazo (my favorite overall). I've loved tea since I was around…6 or something…OH! And, for any of you who are wondering, this story is set in-between Seasons 4 and 5! Kinda like...Season 4.5! Well, without further ado, here is the eighth chapter of Quality Time! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I have not, do not, and will not ever own Teen Titans or any other copyrighted something-or-other that accidentally pops up in this story. Got it?

* * *

Chapter 8: The Art Of Ignorance

Walking out of the Ferris Wheel car, stretching, Beast Boy, accompanied by Cyborg, ran over to where Robin and Starfire were sitting. The now-apparent couple stood and smiled. Beast Boy eyed their hands, which were interlaced comfortably, and ticked off anothertally on the mental scoreboard of 'I'm-right-and-Cy-is-wrong'. Cyborg had bet him the two would act as if nothing had happened on the Ferris Wheel, and had been proven wrong immediately. He shot his mechanical friend a smug grin, and Cy only scowled back and stuck his tongue out childishly. 

The music blasting out of the stereos all around the valley had stayed in the romantic genres during most of the ride, but had strayed off to a more sad, depressing playlist for the last twenty minutes or so. They had already played songs such as '_Forever_' by _Vertical Horizon_, '_Breathe_' by _Anna Nalick_, '_One More Sad Song_' by _The All-American Rejects_, '_The Real Me_' by _Natalie Grant_, '_Savin'_ _Me_' by _Nickelback_, and '_I'm Just a Ki__d_' by _Simple Plan _before the ride was over, and seemed to be switching to loud rock songs now. '_Headstrong_' by _Trapt_ was playing at the moment, and the green changeling couldn't help but tap his foot and nod his head to the catchy tune.

Starfire and Robin walked ahead of them, very closely together in fact, and seemed to be heading to the T-car already. Beast Boy didn't complain, as he was starting to get a little tired. The bag that held his prank felt heavy and leaden in his hand, and his eyelids were starting to droop wearily. Days at the carnival can take an amazing amount of energy out of a person.

* * *

As he slid into the passenger seat of the T-car, Beast Boy took a last look at the carnival. The blacklights cast an eerie glow, almost a dark violet, over the entire area, but he could still see the machines working endlessly, around and around. The towering black mountains that surrounded the valley like large, jagged teeth loomed over everything, mystic and serene. The rain waterlogged the very air, blurring some of the mountains into gray shadows, and lightning ever so rarely crackled down to earth, brilliantly lighting the whole scene. Before he shut the door, '_Headstrong_' faded away and '_Dance, Dance_' by _Fall Out Boy_ replaced it, accompanied by a rumbling bout of thunder. 

A thumping sound and the rocking motion of the T-car signaled that Cyborg had gotten in, and Beast Boy quickly shut the door and snapped his seatbelt on. Star and Robin were already sitting together in the back, which was partly why the changeling had elected to sit in front. He did not, under any circumstances, want to be trapped in the three-person back seat with them if they were going to start making out or something. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened in the Ferris Wheel, but he could fill in the blanks pretty well. They had finally realized what the others had noticed quite a while ago; that they were madly in love with one another. At least his buddy Cyborg was there to help relieve the awkwardness of a couple being in the backseat. Neither of them would feel like the third wheel if they were free to blast tunes and argue about the Tofu vs. Meat debate in the front. Several songs blasted out of the T-car on the way home, and when the CD was used up, the sound of two voices deep in an argument ensued.

Upon reaching home, all four Titans retired to their beds, exhausted, not bothering to turn any lights on. If they had, they may have noticed a dark-colored, motionless lump decorating the couch. Across from it, sitting on the coffee table, was a half-full cup of tea, cold, but still delicately scented with calming chamomile and hibiscus.

* * *

The next day...

Yawning and stretching, Raven awoke from quite possibly the best sleep in her life. No nightmares, visions, or stray thoughts had kept her from resting, for once in a long time. A very long time. Maybe it had been the tea, or it could have just been exhaustion. Either way, she had woken up refreshed and well-rested, and was ready for anything the day could throw at her. '_What a coincidence,_' she thought, because all of a sudden, the doors at the front of the room slid open with a _whoosh_ sound. She quickly, on instinct, ducked her head, hiding it from view behind the couch. Peeking out only enough to see whoever it was, she first saw...darkness.

It was only 4:27 in the morning, according to the digital clock on the microwave, and no one in their right mind at the Tower would actually get up at this time. She had been sleeping since mid-afternoon, so it made sense for her to be up this early, but all of her friends must have gotten home late, and would be tired. She reached out with her mind to try and recognize the presence of another being, and almost immediately sensed a familiar aura moving about the kitchen area. It had an unmistakable bittersweet tang, kind of like dark chocolate. For some reason, sensing an aura had always embodied itself not only as a soft glow of fluctuating intensity, but also as a smell or taste in her mind, as if the aura of a person was their own special brand of perfume or cologne. She knew who it was though, and this information was only further proven by the loud clattering of an entire cabinet of tinware falling to the ground, soon followed by a muttered curse. It was undoubtedly Beast Boy now, for he was likely the clumsiest of the Titans, even more so than Silkie sometimes. More scuffling ensued as he tried to pick up the mess he had made in the dark. Even though he could turn into nocturnal animals, she guessed that he didn't have night vision.

Silently, she levitated and made her way over to the kitchen. Alighting gently on her feet, she walked up behind the flustered changeling. Even with her eyes closed, she could have made her way around the Tower without bumping into anything. Every atom of matter, not only that of living beings, pulsed with a light, soft aura, giving everything its own 'life' and personal aura signature. With her ability to 'see' auras, she could, in a way, see in the dark. So, as she used her powers to encase the pots and pans in energy, she noticed Beast Boy jerk up and look around suspiciously. As she replaced the kitchenware in its respective cabinet, she watched with slight amusement while he crept around, looking for his 'invisible' helper. Clearing her throat, she again reached out with a tendril of energy and opened the refrigerator door. It let out ayellow wave of light that dimly illuminated half of the room, including her and her friend.

The green boy yelped as the door opened, then grinned sheepishly when he noticed her.

"Um...hi, Rae! I wasn't expecting to see ya...um, why, again, are you here?" he asked haltingly.

"First of all, don't call me Rae. Second, I fell asleep on the couch waiting for youall to come back. I was...bored...I suppose.And I just woke up," she replied in her usual monotone, slightly regretting revealing that much information to him. She didn't know why she had said all that, it had just slipped out.

"So...you really missed me that much?" he asked innocently, a cocky smile replacing his formerly bewildered expression.

"No, it's just irritating when a person has meditated all they can, read all of their books three times, and still has nothing to do while you all have your fun at a carnival!" she said, raising her voice slightly and instantly regretting it. A thin tendril of energy lashed out from her chakra, knocking all of the recently replaced tinware from the shelves again. He jumped, but still a smug smile of self-satisfaction sat on his face.

"So, you DID miss me that much. Thought so..." he said, trailing off as he bent down to collect some of the pots and pans and put them back in their cabinet. Still fighting back Anger, Raven telepathically raised the remaining half of the fallen pots and pans into the cabinet alongside Beast Boy's stack.

"Anyway! I, for one, came down here for an...early morning...snack," he said cheerfully, glancing at the clock, "and I don't intend to let the chance to eat without Cyborg fighting with me slip by!" still grinning, he brushed past Raven and reached the still-open fridge. Soon, he came back out with a rather large tofu sandwich balanced in one hand and his jug of soy milk in the other. After leading a dangerous-looking balancing act across the kitchen, he stopped at the table, sat down, and began to eat. The fridge provided enough light to see by, so he didn't turn any other lights on. Besides, if you think that Robin is paranoid while awake, imagine an angry, half-asleep Robin coming down because of a light in the living room waking him up...

Watching him, Raven felt her stomach grumble slightly. '_Dang it!_' she thought angrily. '_Why have I been so hungry lately?_' Growling under her breath, she made her way over to the refrigerator and pulled out a cold slice of supreme pizza. It was a few days old, but who cares? It was probably safer than half of the stuff they serve fresh at restaurants these days. She was thirsty, though, and was about to go and get a glass of water when she remembered that her tea was still sitting on the coffee table. Levitating it over to her hand, she taste-tested it. It was cold, but the tea was too good to resist and she simply put the mug in the microwave to heat it up. After about a minute, the liquid inside began to bubble and she opened the door. After pressing clear to stop the irritating, insistent beeping of the machine, she carefully walked over to the table where Beast Boy was sitting, found a seat across from him, and began to eat. He eyed her with a confused look on his face over his tofu sandwich, but shrugged placidly, smiling, and returned to his snack.

The two sat in companionable silence for a while until, for once, Raven was the one who was tired of the quiet. She had heard almost no noise all day yesterday, and for some reason was sick of silence.

"So, why were you up, anyway?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I already said why!" he said, furrowing his brows. "I wanted an early morning snack!"

"Don't lie to me. I'm an empath, remember? I can sense moods and emotions, and food was definitely the farthest thing from your mind when you came in here," she said, looking him straight in the eye.

"Humph!" he huffed indignantly, crossing his arms and looking at her, irritated. "You always know everything. That gets annoying, you know! Why don't you just tell ME what I was thinking? You know, don't you?" he narrowed his eyes crossly.

"Actually, no, I don't. I sense emotions automatically when I'm in the presence of someone else, but if I wanted to know their exact thoughts, I would have to delve into their mind. I wouldn't disrespect someone's privacy like that, at least not unless it was an emergency. I thought you, being one of my friends, would know that by now..." she trailed off, looking off to the side and taking a hesitant bite of pizza.

She looked hurt, and Beast Boy knew that whenever she let loose any amount of emotion, it was raging on tenfold inside the iron wall she placed between herself and everyone else. He felt guilty.

"I'm sorry. I was mad, because...because you're exactly right. As usual," he chuckled at that, but then turned serious and hung his head, concentrating intensely on his half-eaten sandwich. "Well...I couldn't sleep, to tell you the truth. The carnival has kind of got me down. The last time I went to one...it was...you know. _That night_." at this, he stopped cold and also took a bite of his sandwich. She knew what he was talking about, because they always referred to Terra's betrayal as _that night_.

"Oh," she said softly, looking down. "Thank you for telling me."

"Mhm..." he mumbled, still looking like he intended to bore a hole through the table with his gaze.

Raven could swear she saw his eyes glint dangerously, even in the low light. Waves of sadness and anger were rolling off of him like water, and it was all she could do to stop from choking on them. That was just about how thick they were, on a mental scale of course. She sighed. She knew that she didn't do this often, and it always tired her out when she did, but...she decided to do something nice for him. Just this once. She hated seeing anyone like this, especially one of her friends. Concentrating on the task ahead of her, she took a deep breath and pushed some of her soul-self out of her body in a smoky, hazy form. It drifted over to the boy sitting across the table, and engulfed his head and shoulders. She saw him relax visibly, and when the bits of soul-self came back towards her, they were a little less spectral and easier to see. As they returned into her head via the small ruby on her chakra, she stiffened as her friend's emotional energy roiled around like a herd of wild horses through her brain. The energy fed Timid, Anger, and Sadness, who immediately began causing havoc and, outwardly, gave her a depressed outlook on things. It would last for maybe half an hour, but would eventually wear itself out and die away.

Hearing a low, droning sound, she looked over at Beast Boy. He had his head all the way down on the table, mashed up in his sandwich, and was in a deep sleep, snoring. Apparently, the powerful emotions had been the only reason he wasn't already asleep. He looked comfortable enough on the table, and looked like he could breathe, so she decided to leave him there. She didn't want to take the risk of waking him up if she moved him to the couch or something, so she quietly finished her pizza and tea, put the dirty dishes in the sink, and went off to her room. All of a sudden, but not surprisingly, she was tired again as she entered the dark, musty interior. A few hours of sleep and she would probably be fine for the rest of the day, but would get up a bit later than everyone else. '_Oh, well..._' she thought. '_Let them wonder. I'm going to sleep late, big deal. I'm sure the guys will be too busy taking blackmail pictures of Sleeping Beauty back there to notice anyway..._' and with that, she drifted off to another good sleep, full of...nothing. Peaceful, blissful nothingness.

* * *

"Ugh...wha? Raven? Whazappenin'?" Beast Boy mumbled incoherently as his mind drifted out of the deep sleep he had been encompassed in. Half of his face was numb, and his arms were unresponsive and tingling, signaling a loss in circulation. Bright lights were also flashing randomly in front of his eyes, blinding him and forcing him out of dreamland more quickly than is usually necessary. Putting his hands in front of his face as best he could, he waited as his bleary mind sorted itself out. He had been in the kitchen, eating a snack and talking to Raven when...well, he couldn't quite explain it. The last thing he remembered was feeling a great weight lift from his chest, and then...he had woken up here. Had she done something? He didn't quite know, but at the moment he had bigger problems. Those bright lights that had been flashing in his eyes when he woke up happened to be none other than Cyborg and Robin's cameras, snapping away. He didn't know why, and only became more baffled when the two burst out laughing, rolling on the ground in mirth, and ended up holding their sides, gasping for air. Starfire stood off to the side, giggling lightly at the guys' antics. 

"What?" he asked, peeved and interested in what could be so humorous.

Cyborg, laughing so hard that he couldn't talk, simply swiped his hand over his own face, as if wiping off an imaginary substance. Taking the hint and reaching up cautiously, Beast Boy touched his forehead. When he brought his hand back down, the tips of his gloved fingers were coated in some kind of sticky white glop. Grimacing, he wiped his glove off on the dish towel that hung from the counter next to him and was baffled for a moment before he looked down. Sitting on the table, squashed like a bug, was the remaining half of his tofu sandwich. He had apparently fallen asleep face-first in the mess, and the tofu had oozed out, sticking to his face like putty. The green teen grabbed the dish towel again, rubbing it roughly across his tofu-splattered features. He only succeeded in smearing it all around, as a minimal amount appeared on the dish cloth and Robin almost threw up as a result of another forceful bout of laughter. Cyborg quickly snapped a few more pictures, then collapsed on the ground, guffawing to the point of silence and banging a large fist on the floor continuously. Starfire looked alarmed.

"Friend Cyborg, why are you doing the crying?" she asked innocently, noticing the tears that were leaking out of his human eye. He only laughed harder at this, finally collapsing into dry heaves as he struggled to regain breath. She quickly resumed halfhearted giggles, noticing the wide smile on his face.

Still not amused with the proceedings, the elfin Titan scoffed and walked around the island bar to the sink. He washed his face, and after a while, felt no more tofu stuck to him. Thankfully, none had gotten in his hair. He had been a bit more careful with his 'do after the 'Red X' incident, because months of looking in the mirror to see a tufted, irregular mass of hair on top of his head hadn't exactly been a pleasant experience.

Shaking himself back into reality, Beast Boy swept his gaze over the three other people standing in the room. The two guys had just started to get up off of the floor, looking a little disappointed that the fun was over, but Star looked kind of relieved, stopping her giggling and running over to Robin. Then, as if a bomb had been dropped, they all realized something at once. Something or someone was missing from the atmosphere of the room. Raven! She didn't usually participate in blackmailing sessions, so they hadn't noticed before, but she was usually right there to administer some kind of biting sarcastic comment afterwards. The Tamaranian princess was first to break the silence.

"Friends, has anyone seen Raven this morning?" she asked, raising a small red eyebrow and frowning.

"No, Star," Robin replied, laying a hand on her shoulder comfortably. "I haven't. Cyborg? Beast Boy?" he asked, scanning them with his masked eyes. Cyborg shook his head silently, shrugging his shoulders and looking over at the last person to speak. Said person nodded.

"Yeah, I saw her this morning when I came in to get an early morning snack, but I don't know where she went from there..." he stated, shrugging his thin shoulders and smiling apologetically.

"Hmm..." Robin murmured while thinking. "Maybe someone should check her room? Star? How about you?" he asked pointedly.

Starfire brightened considerably at being put on the spot, by Robin in particular, and nodded enthusiastically. All three guys were surprised that her head didn't pop off. "I will do the checking of the room, friends!" she giggled, jumping into the air and flying like a fiery arrow through the doors, which barely had time to sense movement and open before she shot through.

:3 :3 :3

The warrior princess rocketed through the hallways with perfectly executed, lightning-fast turns and curves as she navigated the maze of hallways with an expert's ease. Star had purposely taken the long route to Raven's room, just to see how quickly she could travel the distance around the entire top of the 'T'. Within mere seconds, she ground roughly to a stop just outside the cold, motionless door with the word RAVEN engraved into a shallow rectangular pan near the top. Finally feeling the wind that had raced her through the Tower brush angrily past, the Tamaranian teen knocked lightly, but firmly, on the entrance to the dark girl's room. Of course, light, but firm knocking to her was about the equivalent of a two hundred pound boulder slamming into something, so with a _whump_, the door was rattled off of its hinges and thumped into the black-carpeted floor, raising up a tentative cloud of dust that dissipated within an instant. Starfire gulped nervously, and called softly into the dark interior.

"Raven?" she called, leaning slightly in. "Raven, are you in the room of your dwelling? I and the boys wish to know of your location...Raven?" the alien gasped as she saw something move slowly inside, the movement accompanied by a soft moan.

"Starfire?" came Raven's sleep-slurred voice as she sat up in bed. The redhead sighed in relief as she recognized her friend.

"Yes, it is I!" she squealed, jade eyes bright. "As I mentioned earlier, the boys and I were wishing to know of your present location..." she trailed off, resisting the urge to hug her friend while Raven walked up slowly, as the Tamaranian girl always did when approaching one of the four.

Her constant mirth seemed disturbing to them, so she only gave them all hugs when she was especially happy. Some citizens of Jump City may have believed she was sort of ditzy from what they saw of her, but she wasn't stupid in the slightest, actually very intelligent and almost psychic, being able to judge a person's current state of mind by their eyes. Most people could do that, but Star's talent stood out especially, as she could tell even subtle changes like flickers of discomfort or apprehension. That was why she had such trouble understanding Robin, as his eyes were always masked by white mesh. Her love for her friends came from, of course, having been raised in a very social society, and she depended upon companionship to live. She watched out for her fellow Titans in battle, and shielded them from harm whenever she could. Starfire was, as you could say, the glue that held the Titans together, drawing them back with her innocent charm and kindly demeanorduring hard times and making sure noone was ever left out.

"Yeah...I get it, Star," Raven mumbled, still groggy. "I'm guessing you want me to come back to the common room with you?"

"Yes! And...may we take the way of long?" the giddy girl asked, a hint of secrecy hidden beneath her happy demeanor as she raised her eyebrows and looked at her friend meaningfully.

Raven knew what that meant. Whenever something had happened and Starfire wanted to 'initiate the girl talk', they either went to Star's room or took the long way to the common room or gym, whichever destination they were expected to appear at. Apparently, the dark sorceress had missed something important at 'Carnival Du Mystique', which probably, in her experience of being the Tamaranian's best friend, included Robin to some grand extent. How right she was.

"Of course we can," she stated, gesturing for Star to lead the way. As the two started down the long hallways, she gave a hint of a smile and listened carefully while the fiery redhead recounted her Ferris Wheel experience with the boy wonder in great, enthusiastic detail.

* * *

Back in the common room, Beast Boy was watching Robin and Cyborg battle head-to-head in their new game, 'Turbo Racers X-treme', with little interest. The two were hard at it, scrunching up their faces in concentration and using shady diversion tactics to distract the other from the game. It was usually pretty funny to watch the rivals go at it, but today his mind was elsewhere. For some reason, he felt that he had forgotten something. Usually this meant that he had left the dishes undone or forgot to do the laundry, but this time it was different. At the edge of his senses, something was nagging at him constantly, but he didn't know what it was. Maybe it would be more distinct in animal form. 

Quickly shifting into a dog, Beast Boy yelped painfully. A high-pitched whine was ringing in his sensitive ears, and it hurt! He, without hesitation, morphed back into his human form and shook his head, landing in a heap on the ground as he lost his balance. Fortunately for him, his two video-gaming friends were too deep in the fantasy land of nitro-infused sports vehicles to notice any of this, and he was free to explore the meaning. Now ready for the whining noise, he went back into dog form and bit his tongue to prevent another yelp of pain. He walked around a bit, testing the frequency. The mindless humming was definitely coming from the direction of the door. He ran towards it, the doors sliding open in front of him, and galloped into the hallway.

In the closed-in area of the hall, the buzzing was even louder. Bracing himself for it, he continued following the noise around corners and through more hallways, it getting more intense and more painful with each step. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, he reached the point at which the buzzing stopped abruptly. It was the door to his room. Not knowing why he had been led there, he cautiously reared up on his hind legs and pressed the door panel with his nose. When the door opened, he morphed back into human form and stepped in amongst the mess. Almost nothing seemed out of place, unless you counted the pair of purple-and-black boxers slowly creeping their way across the floor. 'That,' he thought to himself, 'would most likely be put into the category of _disturbing._'

All of a sudden, though, that wierd feeling of having forgotten something returned to his mind. He turned towards the feeling, and came face-to-face with his oak-wood desk, which was sagging dangerously and had a thick ring of duct tape looped around the middle. He hazily remembered his angry outburst that had caused that break to come into effect, but really, really wished he couldn't. A black-and-silver paperweight rested heavily on one end, helping to prop up one side of the fragile desk like a seesaw. The paperweight sat on one end, the desk leg was the fulcrum, and the weight of the sagging tabletop acted as the other 'seesawer'. On the left side of the desk satthe key component in the other 'seesaw effect' that held the rest of the desk together. It was a small rectangular box, still wrapped in the plastic bag emblazoned by an eye in a triangle. His gag toy was omitting the strange, high-pitched noise that rattled his brains.

Reaching over with a gloved hand, he picked up the bag, and his desk creaked ominously. He pulled the object out of the bag. The feeling of the whine faded away quickly as soon as he touched the box, and he wondered why the heck a friggin' pair of Chinese handcuffs would send out that strange, tuneless hum. Before he could enquire further, a midnight blue spark launched itself from the box, winding its way quickly in a spiraling pattern up his finger, hand, arm, neck, and head, finally sinking into the middle of his forehead.

"What the...?" he muttered, shocked, as he shook himself from the surprised trance and rubbed the spot where the spark had disappeared.Thelittleflashof blue firehad felt warm, almost like the tip of a finger, as it had traced its way over his person. The green boy jerked his sleeve up nervously, expecting some kind of blemish, but the spark had left no mark on his skin. All it had left behind was a freaked-out green shapeshifter standing in his room with a now-mysterious box gripped tightly in his right hand.

Now officially nervous, the changeling looked at the box suspiciously. It sat innocently in the palm of his hand, not a spark or evil, life-sucking vampire in sight. About the vampire thing...well, the Titans had watched a scary movie a week ago, titled '_It Walks At Midnight_', and Beast Boy hadn't exactly gotten over the fright of Cyborg sneaking up behind the couch and throttling him in the middle of the climax. He had jumped about three feet into the air. Luckily, he wasn't scared of vampires anymore! He just discovered a newfound love of garlic, that's all...

Anyway, no more sparks were shooting out of the box. Heaving a sigh, the green teen decided that he would take the box to the master-of-all-things-mystical herself, Raven. If he was lucky, she wouldn't mind, but he could never be sure. With her, she could be civil one moment and angry the next. He could be having a nice conversation, and the next thing he knew he would beflying through the air and landing in the deep waters of Jump City Bay. He pondered this as he subconsciously stepped out of his room, the pneumatic doors making their barely audible hiss as they opened at his approach. He was halfway down the hall before his mind came up with the question _why?_ Why did they have to argue all the time? He was only trying to be nice, usually, cracking jokes and attempting to make her smile. Maybe she really didn't want to. He didn't think so, but her actions toward him and his efforts to cheer her up indicated that she really didn't want to smile. Surely just one smile wouldn't affect her control _that_ much...was she just being obstinate for the fun of it? Or was it something deeper, was there something particular about him that set the emotions off? Anger especially?

Before he knew what his feet were doing, they stopped in front of the door, out of range of the sensors, to the main room, or 'Ops' as Cyborg called it in the 'techno-lingo' that so confused him. Personally, he preferred giving his own, more descriptive names to things that had Latin or overly confusing names such as 'Turbo Infusion Thruster Mechanism' and 'Nitroglycerin'. To him, they were called 'Thingie-that-makes-car-go-fast' and 'Liquid-that-blows-up-stuff'. It made work more fun, to put it in the lightest sense possible. Otherwise, he really didn't know why he refused to call objects by their 'techno-lingo' name, except that seeing Cyborg go nuclear at the mention of a 'Candy-Cane-Striped-Thingamawhoozit' or a 'Shiny Donut' really brightened up an otherwise dull day.

Passing the sensors that opened the doors to the main room, he stepped into said room without incident. After a quick scan ofthe interior, he found that everyone else in the team was here. 'Great', he thought. 'It's just my luck, isn't it?'. Cyborg and Robin were still going at it on the video game, quickly passing level after level with almost equal speed. The two really were well-matched, and he guessed that they would be up to at least level 1000 before there was a clear winner. Starfire was hovering anxiously behind the sofa, flitting fairylike across from one friend to the other. She wasn't sure to cheer for her new boyfriend or her other friend, because it was in her nature to be fair and honest. Raven, no surprise, was sitting in her favorite spot on a chair to the left of the couch, reading with interest an ancient-looking tome that rested in her lap. Taking a deep breath, Beast Boy sauntered over to the chair she was sitting in, holding the box that contained the Chinese handcuffs behind his back.

"Hey Raven?" he asked disinterestedly, looking around as if he was completely at ease.

"Hm?" she mumbled exasperatedly, closing her book with a _whump_ and turning to look at him crossly. He began to feel intimidated by her glare, making a mental note never to disturb her when she was reading again.

"Umm...eh, well, I bought this at the carnival and it was making this whiny noise and then just now a blue spark shot out of it and went up my arm and into my forehead! I thought you would know what happened because you're an expert at these kinda things, right?" he said all in a rush, nervousness making him talk fast as he pulled the box out from behind his back. He held it out to her, and she gingerly picked it up out of his outstretched hands. Instantly an emerald spark burst free from the black velvet fabric, lacing its way around her finger, arm, neck, and head just like Beast Boy's blue spark had, disappearing into her chakra. With a surprised gasp and wide eyes, she rubbed her forehead gingerly and raised an eyebrow.

"Is that what happened to you?" she asked, in her normal even, controlled monotone.

"Yep, exactly 'cept my spark was blue!" he said, grinning and nodding his head to accentuate his point.

"Yes...hm, interesting..." she said absentmindedly, busy studying the tentacle-like silver swirls sewn into the black velvet. Gently, she lifted the top of the box, revealing the soft tube of unfamiliar material. The crosshatching colors intertwined like a three-dimensional checkerboard throughout, and Raven noticed in a moment that the colors of the Chinese handcuffs matched exactly the color of her spark and the one that her shapeshifting friend had described. She wordlessly picked up the tube, leaving a shallow indent in the cushiony dark violet velvet lining the inside. Beast Boy leaned forward, resting his hands on the armrest of the chair, as the dark girl inspected the handcuffs for any abnormalities or magic auras.

"Hey, I think I see somethin'..." he muttered, reaching his hand out for the possibly mystical item. Suddenly, Raven's eyes widened in realization as she sensed a powerful aura encasing the small trinket.

"Wait! No, don-" her cry was replaced by a short scream of surprise as the handcuffs literally leaped out of her hand, attaching one end of itself to Beast Boy's gloved fingers and the other to hers. It no longer resembled a tube, but a mass of emerald and navy squares that engulfed each of their hands, her right and his left. It didn't connect them like Chinese handcuffs were supposed to, straight out, but it melted on to fit more like an oversized glove so, apparently, those who were victimized could walk normally side-by-side, mummified palms facing inwards. Both of them felt a slight shock run through their bodies as the material tightened to mold to the shape of their fingers. The mass of fabric began to pulse gently. They both instinctively began struggling against the bonds, but two things happened. First, the handcuffs refused to give way to force, and a light yelp of pain came from Beast Boy as his finger almost went out of socket. Looking up at Raven with a 'wtf is going on' look on his face, he rubbed the knuckle tenderly. In answer to his former query, she shrugged her shoulders and looked over to the technical genius of the group, who by now had noticed the scuffle going on to his left and was exchanging a confused look with Robin and Star.

"Hey Cyborg, get your butt over here, will ya?" Beast Boy whined, already getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. While the forgotten video game roared, squealed, and grated irritatingly in the background, all three of the pair's comrades trotted over to have a look-see. Instantly, Cyborg took control of the situation. Even Robin backed off without a fight, knowing the metal man to be the best for the job in a mire like this.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" the tech genius questioned, planting his large fists on his hips and cocking his head, lips twitching in amusement.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to start ranting, but Raven shushed him with a sideways glare and began to explain the situation to the best of her ability. For the most part, the audience was genuinely interested and listened with bated breath. However, Beast Boy was bored, as he already knew the story. A few times during the short monologue, he caught Raven making a quick stab at his intelligence and interrupted with a whiny 'Heeyy!' Unfortunately for his intelligence, the retorts made by the green prankster went by unnoticed or ignored to deaf ears. However, when she came to the end of his knowledge of the story, she continued on.

"Just before this...thing...entrapped us, I noticed an aura. A very powerful one, surrounding this object. Obviously this is not what it seems, as normal pairs of Chinese handcuffs aren't animate. To the best of my knowledge of magics, it could be a normal object cursed by a Fiendish Charm or Chaos Spell, or even a purely magical artifact embodied by a spirit of some sort with control over it. However, nothing I have yet seen in this world, or other ones, matches exactly the circumstances in which we are mired. This is where I must turn to you, Cyborg, as you are the self-proclaimed 'master-of-all-things-mechanical' and probably the only one here with the current brainpower to even attempt helping us escape from this mess."

At this last sentence, the dark girl glared pointedly at Starfire and Robin, who had come to the end of their current attention spans and were gazing into each other's eyes dreamily. Cyborg cleared his throat noisily, shaking the two out of their trance and making them blush deeply.

"Anyway," Cyborg intoned, shaking his massive head good-humoredly. "are there any instructions that came with this? Let me see the box."

Raven handed him the velvet-lined box with her left hand, grimicing slightly in disgust as the _thing_ on her right hand shifted and pulsed more brightly. Cyborg ran his eyes quickly and expertly over the little rectangle, almost instantly noticing the little gray card propped up in the top.

"Aha!" he said, grinning. "Now we've got something here! Chinese, I believe. Just let me translate this real quick, and hopefully it will give us some clues!"

Noone, not even Raven, had the heart to add in a snide comment to his obvious observation. He was in his element now, and noone was going to stop him. Acting for all the world like Velma of Mystery, Inc., he held the small card up to his robotic eye, which scanned it in columns from right to left, as Chinese is read. Raven could almost imagine an endless stream of binary flowing over his subconscious. After a few seconds of scanning, a small beeping noise came from the control panel on his arm, and he opened it up with the press of an unseen button. A small LCD display screen popped up on thin metal stilts, displaying a small verse in translated English. It wasn't perfect, no, but it got the point across just fine. It went like this:

_'Those who fall for this ancient spell_

_Will soon be learning all too well_

_To quick amend both pain and strife_

_Otherwise lead a short, ill-fated life.'_

"Well, that doesn't sound good!" Beast Boy said, face paling to a sickly lime green. Anything that pertained to death freaked him out just a bit...okay, a lot.

"So it's a curse...and it was you who got us into this!" Raven said, voice raising a little. "You and your...your art of ignorance!"

Scowling, she turned away from him and rubbed her temple with her free hand. Groaning, she looked up at Cyborg exasperatedly with a look on her face that said 'Why me?' The mechanical man smiled and shook his head, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Returning to the task at hand, though, he realized something.

"Hey guys, did you try your powers, see if you can escape that way?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhh...no..." Beast Boy said, blushing slightly at his obvious flub-up. "We...ah...oughtta try that now, huh?"

"Yeah, I would think so, before anyone starts talking about curses," Cyborg said with a pointed look at the sulking girl.

"Ok, ok, whatever," she said, sighing. "Wish I'd have thought of that sooner, its really obvious now that I look at it..."

With that said, Raven concentrated andcalled a bit of black energy up to snap the mass in half. To her surprise, an amazing...nothing...happened.

"WHAT?" she cried, frantically trying to levitate or lift the couch with her powers. Not a spark of her trademark soul-self was to be seen.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was concentrating hard. He focused on a snake and prepared himself for the fluid shift, bones melting down and curling into a long spine and ribs, body becoming one giant sinewy muscle. Nothing happened, though. Nothing at all. Both entrapped teens looked at each other. It was going to be a long day.

All Raven could think was one thing: _Thank goodness I don't need to go to the restroom._

* * *

So, that's Chapter 8 for ya! I would have had it in sooner, but I broke my ankle and am just now allowed to move around on crutches. We are finally into the plot, and I have a feeling that this story will take a while. Before I get any angry reviews, I know that I screwed around with Raven's powers, especially her ability to absorb emotions. I put my spin on the aura thing and that just to suit my story, but its the same basic principle anyway. They're still the same powers, I just wrote my own way on how she views auras and what she feels like absorbing emotion. Kinda messed with Star's, too. Also, there were probably some grammatical errors and missing spaces in-between words, but I am so tired and my ankle hurts, and I wanted to get this in today during FF rush hour. Please review and tell me what you thought of it, and I will try to get my next chapter in soon! Thank you! 


	9. The Curse Is The Easy Part

Hey everybody! Here's Chapter 9! So, so unbelievably sorry for the super-long wait! (cries) I got started working on a novel for a while and also lost interest in this fic for a few months. Don't kill me, but Teen Titans became my...second-place obsession recently. I've currently been obsessing madly over Fruits Basket (the most awesome, totally radically mind-blowing manga...and anime that's disappointing after you've read the books) and haven't really been too pressured to continue this fic. But, for you guys, who have waited so patiently (Hopefully, though it wouldn't surprise me if I've lost many of you) for the next chapter and would not appreciate being left hanging just as the plot begins to unravel, I decided to get my lazy butt in gear and update. Even if it's this short...but I didn't want you guys to be pissed at me much longer. So ends my pathetic excuse! (Bows)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. I won't. Ever. Congratulations on making me state the obvious. (Cynical salute!)

* * *

Chapter 9: The Curse Is The Easy Part

"Aagh!" Cyborg groaned as he tossed away his once-best chainsaw. He had gotten it as a Christmas present two years ago from Robin, and now it was a mangled, broken mass of scrap. It landed with a metallic clink in the pile of discarded, disassembled tools that lay beside him and in front of Raven and Beast Boy, never to cut through an iron alloy again. The two looked frightened, their skin pale and eyes wide. Perhaps this was because their frustrated teenage friend had recently come within an inch of their skin with a chainsaw, not to mention pliers, a handheld saw, and a very nasty-looking soldering iron. Not a scratch had been inflicted on the cursed handcuffs that bound the two, although there was one reaction to the abuse. Every time it was put under stress, a shower of navy and emerald sparks would appear and encircle the offending nuisance, skimming along edges and faults and breaking it down into bits as quickly as so much acid. Yet, through the constant abuse of metal and fire it remained, with adamantium-like resistance, securely fastened onto the hands of the two superpowered teens.

Starfire and Robin watched nervously from the circular couch, more afraid now for their friends' staying in one piece than the curse that bound them. The metal-man was growing increasingly agitated, and it was clear that he was only seconds away from a total meltdown. Robin, the ever-vigilant, though forward and bossy, leader, spoke up.

"Okay, Cyborg, I know you've tried your hardest, but I think its time to stop. This obviously isn't working. Now, let's just...put the machete down and try something different, okay?" he interjected, flipping deftly over the back of the sofa and walking slowly forward towards the chair where the three sat. He waved his hands gently in front of his chest in a calming gesture.

Cyborg whipped his head around irritably, glaring at the festively uniformed Boy Wonder. He opened his mouth to say that he never gave up, and this was simply a challenge of endurance, but thought better of it when he saw Starfire's pale, wide-eyed face sticking out meekly from behind the couch cushions. He also noticed that Robin's forehead was furrowed in worry, and a rapid, frantic wheezing was sounding out from behind him, where he knew the cursed pair sat. Beast Boy was hyperventilating. Glancing down at the deadly weapon cradled in his unwieldly hands and the pile of destroyed machinery that lay scattered around his knees, he realized the full gravity of the situation. This wasn't just a dangerous scene, this was a health hazard to anyone within forty feet of the area! Not to mention the fact that he was getting really, really pissed off. He started to laugh.

"You..ha ha...you guys, ha ha ha...I'm not gonna...ha ha ha...not gonna-gonna hurt you! Ha ha ha...ok, ok. I'll stop!" he chuckled, robotic lungs pausing for breath frequently to accomodate his hysterics. Robin paused in his slow approach, shock apparent even through his face mask.

"Are...you okay, Cyborg?" the baffled leader asked, totally blown away by his bipolar behavior. If Raven cracking a smile meant hell was about to break loose, what was it supposed to mean when the solid, straight-forward mechano-man switches moods at the speed of sound?

"I'm fine...I..hehe...sorry. Guess I just got a little too serious there. I'm laughing because, looking back at it, it was kind of funny. (And, thanks to a mini-recorder stationed behind his mechanical eye installed so he could replay fights and learn from his mistakes, he really _could_ look back at it) I got so serious, and you all were so freaked. But...I think I'm a little stressed out anyways. Talk of curses and crazy stuff like that kinda gives me the heebie-jeebies, and plus- I just got that new version of Turbo Racers X-treme, and my best buddy won't be in playing order to lose to me if I can't get this thing off first!" he ended his monologue with a little chuckle, trying to lighten up the situation.

That explanation had been partly true, but the real problem behind his mood swings was a malfunction in his software. A few reactors had shorted out in his last battle with Cinderblock, and he hadn't had enough time to repair them yet. For now, the reactions would be fairly minor. If the problem ran uncorrected, though, every emotion that surfaced would appear and disappear spontaneously and violently. In a way, the problem would be quite similar to human bipolarcy, in that there would be a 'hormone imbalance' that caused emotions to escalate to unreasonable levels for short periods of time.

"Hey, whatever, dude." Beast Boy had recovered from his shock enough to choke out the sentence. It's not like you would've actually slipped or anything, right? Heh...heh...?" His brow furrowed in silent question.

"Right!" Cyborg's solid answer seemed to placate the little changeling, and he nodded vigorously.

"So...sorry to interrupt the monologuing, but...I'm guessing you _can't _get us out of this?" Raven's eyebrows arched, challenging even her chakra in height, as she lifted her arm and dangled it, along with Beast Boy's limp limb, in front of Cyborg's face. He paled.

"Eh...yeah, that's pretty much it in layman's terms..." he sighed, shrugging his massive shoulders apologetically. "Unless you have some non-magic voodoo charm for this kinda thing, I'm stumped. May just have to grit your teeth and sweat it out."

Raven's eyes grew sharp with irritation, but she sighed, blowing the emotion off and rubbing her forehead with her long, grey-hued fingers. Glancing over at Beast Boy, who was currently working a mound of stuffing out from a hole in the arm of the chair, she grimaced.

"It's not the handcuffs I'm worried about, Cyborg. The curse is the easy part. What scares me...is _him_."


	10. Charmed

Hey, everyone! I'm baa-aaack!!! (Frightening theme music, fully equipped with thunder and rain sounds, plays in the background) Gaagh! Whoops, wrong cd!!! Anyway...well, here ya go. Chapter 10, everyone. (cheers)

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own Teen Titans. Not even as a filthy rich purple rubber ducky tycoon from Pluto. (Which isn't even a planet anymore! Do they ever stop picking on the little guy!?!) So, if any copywrighted material happens to show up in this chapter, I don't own it! 'Kay?!

* * *

Chapter 10: Charmed

Raven stared, incredulous, at the blatant stupidity of the rapidly flashing lights that flitted their way across the plasma-screen television in the common room. Two computer-animated cars--one lime green, one lightning blue--zoomed over a thick black rope of highway, passing endless rows of identical buildings and spitting out realistic nitrous-gasoline fumes as they roared over the binary-formed road. This scene--obviously, to any Jump City citizen genius enough to stalk the Titans without getting mauled-was one of Beast Boy and Cyborg hard at a game of Turbo Racers X-treme (new and improved!).

Occasionally, a hand would slip on the controller's keypad, and a hideous screeching would erupt from the surround-sound speakers positioned around the room as one of the hot rods rammed into a telephone pole, business complex, or fire hydrant. The lime car did this more often. Go figure. A constant tugging at the (former) sorceress's right hand constituted the presence of the changeling, who weaved back and forth in tandem to the joystick's erratic movements as he executed less-than-expert curves, twists, and turns on the track. Not to say that he had always been such a bad video gamer--the heap of magical material that had by now eaten its way up to the top of his left wrist _did_ hinder him quite a bit.

Not that any of this information lingered in Raven's mind for more than a split second. Right now, she was focusing most of her energy on trying desperately to hide her growing irritation. Not only was stuck sitting barely two feet from her prime source of annoyance, but she had allowed herself to be conned into dealing with the video-gaming pair. The persuasion had consisted of whining, pouting, and general nagging from both of them, as well as a few encrypted threats from Cyborg. In a normal situation, she would have tossed both boys out the window without a second thought, and that would have been that. In a normal situation, she wouldn't have been forced to stay in the common room with them. This, however, was hardly a normal situation.

Bound to Beast Boy by a cursed pair of Chinese handcuffs...she was sure even Trigon would laugh if he heard the news. _Though_, she added as an afterthought, _he most likely already knows_. You know--the whole "father-daughter bond" thing. Raven snorted with humorless laughter at this. Yeah, that would be the day. She could just imagine it...

_Trigon and Raven sit together on a massive couch in front of a bright television screen, where a funny chick flick plays. The red-skinned demon lord is cradling a humongous bowl of popcorn in his lap, resting with one arm around his daughter and the other hand plunged wrist-deep into the fluffy, greasy food. Both laugh at a joke, and then turn to one another as the movie ends._

_"Daddy, that was a really good movie!" Raven gushes, hugging her father's gigantic forearm. He chuckles in his deep bass voice, then releases his grip on the popcorn and sets the bowl on a coffee table._

_"Since it's over, let's go out for ice cream!" he cries, grinning proudly as her eyes brighten, looking for all the world like glittering amethysts._

_"Really, Daddy!?! With hot fudge, and sprinkles!?!" she squeals, bouncing on her heels as she draws her feet beneath her._

_"You got it, honeybunch!" he coos, ruffling her hair with a clawed hand. Raven giggles merrily._

Meanwhile, the real Raven was doing her best to stifle the laughter that was bubbling up her throat due to the fantasy world she had envisioned. She didn't crack easily, but to her, this scene was so off-kilter and ironic that it was pretty much the most hilarious thing anyone could have ever thought up. A few giggles escaped her mouth, but they halted abruptly when she heard a strange sound, much like an old, rusty-hinged door opening slowly. Eyes wide and pale hand clamped over her now-still lips, she flicked her gaze over to the right.

The noise was coming from Cyborg, who was slowly, ever so slowly, turning his head (grinding gears and titanium plates together in doing so and creating a terrible creaking sound) to look at her with the same bewildered, shocked expression that she likely bore etched into his face. Beast Boy was also turning his elfin features toward her, his face a mirror of the half-robot's. The forgotten game blazed on in a high-speed series of crashes and skids that ended in YOU LOSE flashing red across the frozen screen.

"What?" Raven growled, glaring daggers at the two. Unfortunately, they were both undaunted by the look, however venemous it was. It hadn't worked when they were getting her to let them play their video game, and it certainly wasn't going to work now. She decided it had been worth a try, though. In a normal situation, dark magic would have formed a hidden threat behind her eyes (they knew she had no qualms about tossing them out the window), but in this case she was no more than an air balloon in a carton of water balloons--threatening, perhaps, but harmless, and empty threats produced no fear.

The boys simply blinked, shaking their heads vigorously, and took to rubbing their ears in case some obstruction had muddled the sound waves. They could have sworn they just heard Raven..._giggle_. But that was impossible...wasn't it? Maybe it had been something from the video game...yeah. That was it. Shrugging at each other, the teens returned to the controllers and pressed the restart button. The sound of squealing tires and humming engines was soon renewed. Raven was glad, at least, that Star and Robin hadn't been in the room. They had left the Tower about half an hour ago, headed out on a lovely date to who-knows-where, and probably wouldn't be back for several hours. Those two would have definitely figured out where the giggle had come from, and wouldn't have had video-game-muddled heads to merge reality and fiction into one indiscernable blob of consciousness.

* * *

_Later..._

Beast Boy yawned widely as he slumped further down into the couch cushions. After only fourteen games of Turbo Racers X-treme, Cyborg had left him for his car. Now he was boreder than bored, bored beyond measure, bored as--well, you get the picture.

"Raeevennnn..." he whined, shaking his left arm to, in turn, shake her right. "Haven't you been meditating long enough? How does it work, anyway, if you don't have your powers? You aren't even floating," he babbled on, desperately trying to convince her that she did not need to meditate. Not too long later, she lost her concentration.

"**Beast Boy.** It's only been five minutes," she said firmly, glaring down at his pitiful little face. He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, (without the usual _dog_ part, though, of course) then, when she failed to respond, screwed his face up into a pout.

"I'm bored! I'm bored! I'm bored!" He fired the three sentences out in rapid succession, then took a deep breath. This was going to call for extreme tactical maneuvers if he wanted to get off of this couch anytime soon. It was time...to sing "99 Bottles of Coke on the Wall".

_A few minutes later..._

Just before the changeling belted out "EIGHTY-FIVE", a small, pale hand clamped itself over his mouth with surprising force. Raven knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with meditation with him here. _Unless I drugged him...eh, nah. _She closed her eyes for a moment. This was going to take all of her patience, however little she had left. Maybe he didn't understand the word _compromise_, but he was going to learn.

"Okay, Beast Boy. First argument: Do you have any idea whatsoever how long _I_ was sitting on the couch while _you_ played video games?" she said calmly, removing her hand from his mouth to let him answer. The elfin teen, delighted that she was paying attention to him, thought about it. (Yes. He _thought._)

"Umm...an hour?" he guessed, shrugging his shoulders. "But you like doing boring stuff anyway, so it's not like..." he trailed off as Raven looked at him tiredly.

"Try five hours, and maybe we'll be getting somewhere," she droned. He looked at her, astonished.

"Really? Oh, wow, I'm sorry Rae! Agh--Raven, sorry!" He flinched as she raised a scornful eyebrow at his use of her loathed nickname. "But...ok, I'll really try this time. To stay still and let you meditate, um, that is," Beast Boy mumbled, eyes downcast.

Raven gave him a ghost of a smile. Perhaps he wasn't as inconsiderate as she had assumed. Returning to her meditative posture, though somewhat restricted by her encumbered right hand, she took a deep breath and a cool peacefulness once again descended upon her mind. Even without her powers, meditation kept her emotions in check, and she felt almost as if she was floating...floating in an empty black universe, devoid of anything, especially little green pests and scary red demons. All seemed to be right with the world...for about twenty minutes.

Suddenly, the dark girl flinched. A terrible, moaning rattle was clanging its way around her universe, reverberating from side to side in a wobbly crescendo/decrescendo pattern. She tried to shut it out, screwing up her face and concentrating harder on _nothing_--nothing but her mantra. Unfortunately, it only worked for about two minutes, after which she felt something bump her from the outside. The droning noise broke through her barriers with renewed strength, pounding powerfully against her delicate state of balance.

Finally, her eyes snapped open, and she turned to her right, positive that little green elf was the cause of her inability to concentrate. Fully prepared for a long, loud lecture/argument, she wore a scowl that Slade would probably have cringed from. The anger on her face dissolved, however, into soft shock when she saw the wiry changeling. He was curled catlike on the couch with a gentle fist tucked to his chest, his mouth parted slightly--allowing a tiny fang clearance and releasing deep, buzz-saw snores at regular intervals. His eyes fluttered and darted from side to side beneath closed lids--he was hyperactive even in his sleep! The bump Raven had felt while meditating? It had probably occurred when he fell--_directly onto her lap_.

Eyes widening, she raised her hands from their places on her knees--one had to be tugged out from under his body, and was still slightly uncomfortable due to the cursed connection between the two. She resisted the urge to shake him, to yell at him to get up, because at least he had kept his word. He _had_ tried to be quiet, and it wasn't really his fault that he snored. Loudly. Feeling oddly considerate, she decided to let him sleep a while longer. He had been right--she didn't really _need_ to meditate anymore, it was just a habit, and it comforted her in times of stress.

Staring down at his calm face, she realized suddenly that he wasn't really the scrawny little pipsqueak he had been for the past few years anymore. Without the usual smile crinkling his face up and hiding it behind his teeth, the dark girl noticed for the first time that he had done some growing up without her knowing it. His soft green hair fell gently over a smooth forehead in light curls, and thin eyebrows arched sharply over large, expressive eyes--complete with dark lashes that sent shadows onto high, firm cheekbones. The teen's nose was set in a strong, straight line that ended in a pointed elfin tip. Thin, dark lips curved into a sweet, kind smile, offset by a sharply set, powerful chin that sloped up into a slender--but by no means delicate--neck.

Not only his head had changed, though--she let her gaze drift over his sleeping body, a slight blush creeping over her features as she did so. Every inch of his figure was covered in lean muscle--he looked weak and thin at first glance, but if you looked closer, you could tell that beneath his skin were multitudes of tense, powerful bunches of muscle--this boy was strong enough to give any self-respecting bank robber a ru.n for his money. She was surprised that he had snuck up on her so quickly like that--growing and maturing without her even knowing it, even though they lived in the same house and saw each other nearly every day. He looked--dare she say it--handsome, and she suddenly, without thinking about it, reached out to sweep his bangs from his forehead with her free hand. When she realized what she was doing, a deep red tint appeared on her cheeks, and she drew her cool hand from his comfortingly warm forehead with a slight gasp. If she had her powers at the moment...wow, what kind of destruction would have been wraught? She felt nauseous just thinking about it. For now, though, she decided to sit and watch him sleep. The girl was hopelessly charmed by the changeling's appearance. She felt comforted by his presence, and subsequently warmed by his contact with her legs. _'Oh, Azar...' _she thought. '_I'm allowing him to **sit on my lap**! What has become of me?' _

Unbeknownst to the poor, confused half-demon, the red light on the room's security camera continued blinking, indicating that it was recording. Cyborg sat behind the security screens in another level of the tower, laughing in shock and disbelief at the scene being looped before him: blown up on the plasma screen, a pale hand repeatedly smoothed forest green curls from a moss green forehead.

* * *

Well, so ends Chapter 10. Terribly, terribly sorry for the long wait. I am a lazy bum, but...um, my novel is now 50 pages long! Yay me! Sad news for you, though, because that means I've been slacking on _this_ story. Again, TERRIBLY sorry, and I hope you can forgive me. So...review, please? Based on my reviews page, I'm getting the feeling only 2-4 people are reading my story, and that makes me sad...though I do appreciate every single reader and reveiwer I have!!! Well, ciao for now, and I'll try to update more frequently. Really sorry, guys. 


	11. Nightmares

Yo, everyone! It's been a long time, hasn't it? Well, I truly am sorry, but I have been SO unbelievably busy/lazy lately, and my creativity has been blocked...perhaps by some thrown-down-the-sink leftovers...and I haven't had a chance to call in the plumber yet. (laughs at my own stupidity) Oook...lame joke over. Anyways, this happens to be the next chapter of Quality Time...(claps hands hopefully) and...um...enjoy!

By the way--from now on, I will integrate lyrics from songs I like and quotes I like before every chapter, though they will be completely irrelevant to the story, simply because it's fun.

Disclaimer: I own Teen Titans. I also have black wings sprouting from my back. I have Daniel Radcliffe on speed dial. And I live on Venus. (If any of you believe any of this...I highly suggest getting a cat scan.)

* * *

**Chapter 11: Nightmares**

_Your face it haunts_

_My once pleasant dreams_

_Your voice it chased away_

_All the sanity in me_

--**_My Immortal (Evanescence)_**

****

_Sometimes I fall asleep a__nd then I lose control_

_I try to find my way out without letting go_

_And will I lose my mind if it comes back this time?_

_If I don't turn out perfect will you be a friend of mine?_

**_--Slow Bleed (Thousand Foot Krutch)_**

"Friends, we have returned!" Starfire cried, flinging her arms wide and swinging in a circle as the doors to the living room slid open. Robin walked in behind the alien princess, pulling uncomfortably at the collar of his crisply ironed red dress shirt. He felt like it made his stomach look flabby. Star looked cheerier than usual in a bright orange floral print sundress that went down to mid-thigh and showed off all of her ample curves. She was lucky, come from a planet in which extreme beauty was commonplace to one in which it was gazed upon with awe and reverence. But that was besides the point. Why were they so dressed up, one may ask? The new couple had just been out on an afternoon date strolling around Jump City park, then had an early dinner at _The Chalet_, a cute little romantic restaurant that was nearly invisible to the spectator's eye, being in the same vicinity as the mall and movie theater.

"Friends?" the redhead questioned cautiously, peering around the room for any sign of life. She had been sure Beast Boy (along with the attached sorceress), at least, would have been in here, videogaming or watching television. All she saw was a few gaming controllers on the table and a lavender pillow poking out above the couch back. Wait...did they even _have_ a purple pillow?

Skipping around the front of the couch, she peered at the strange sight before her, trying to stifle a squeal. Her stoic best friend sat on the couch, head hanging limp against the headrest and mouth slightly open as she snored lightly. The green changeling was curled up on her lap like a cat, nuzzling absentmindly into the pale hand that was attached to his and trapped under his body as he slept, with the fingers of the sorceress's other hand entwined in his hair. Star couldn't believe it. It was amazing--there were no signs of a struggle, no battle scars...nothing! It was almost as if (dare she say it) they were_ getting along._

Robin, with a puzzled look on his face, began to shuffle towards the couch (evidently curious as to why the alien princess looked so shell-shocked).

"Star? What's wrong?" he asked, nearly to the back of the couch. Star panicked, flying over the furniture and barreling into the Boy Wonder.

"Nothing, nothing, NOTHING is wrong, Robin! I promise you, not a single thing is out of the ordinary. I was simply surprised the other friends did not leave a mess of the "junk food" on the table. Let's...find Cyborg, yes? You wanted him to take care of the scratch on your R-Cycle, correct?" She got up off of him and offered a hand.

The poor boy was still dazed and wondering what was going on as he grasped her hand. She heaved him up, and he nearly got whiplash as he went from 0 to 60 in .45 seconds. Alien strength...a blessing and a curse. Then he remembered the words _scratch_ and _R-Cycle_, two nouns which should **never**, **EVER** be used in the same sentence, and his face darkened. _Those idiot drivers in Jump City... _He clenched his fists and nodded furiously as he strode off, leaving the princess in a state of confusion.

"Let's go, Star. Cyborg. Fix. Bike. NOW," he muttered, beginning to rant under his breath again and using language that would make sailors blush. She smiled and floated after him, glad of her immense power to distract Robin by tweaking on his vanity a bit. Sometimes it was good to know your friends' weaknesses. Beast Boy and Raven were safe for now...she had made sure of that.

* * *

_Later..._

Beast Boy was warm. He grinned as he felt the soft mattress beneath him, squishing his face farther into the pillow and cuddling his favorite sock closer to his chest. Lazily, he opened his eyes to see Jump City Bay sparkling in the afternoon sun. He noticed that it was nearly sunset. And...that he wasn't in his room. Yawning widely, he blinked and focused in on what he had thought was his sock. It was really more of a...glob of colored spider silk that had engulfed his hand. There was also a pale arm sticking out of the other end. With a grunt, he sat up awkwardly and pondered this strange sight.

_'Huh? A...what? OH! Wait a minute...' _In a rush, the day's events came back to him, and he shot up and jumped back on the couch cushion, trembling. The pillow he had been laying on? _Raven's leg._ The sock? _Her arm. _

_'OH. MY. GOD!!!_' he thought, terrified._ 'I'm dead. I'm dead. I AM SO DEAD!!! Why hasn't she killed me yet? Maybe she did! Am I a ghost? Is this some form of divine punishment? AAAHHHH!!!' _Going into total headspin mode, his muscles failed him and he simply collapsed on the couch, trying to stay as still as possible so as to not wake up the sleeping time bomb named Raven.

She sat in her meditative pose (sans cursed arm), head limp against the back of the couch and legs relaxed in the lotus position. She...didn't seem like she would be waking up soon, so...maybe he might survive. Still, it would be a good idea to begin writing out his will. Scrabbling around in the couch cushions for a scrap of paper, he managed to find an old candy bar wrapper. Using a dusty old toothpick and a jar of **"Lube-QUICK"** motor oil (both items conveniently wedged between the cushion and the headrest), he began to contemplate the division of his earthly possessions after his untimely demise. Fortunately, he was right handed, so could write. When he was finished, it looked something like this:

_"I, Garfield Mark Logan, being of sound mind and EXCEPTIONALLY sound body, do hereby proclaim that after my death, to be enacted shortly, all of my belongings will be divided as hence:_

_Clothing shall be given to The Beast Boy Fan Club, for their use and/or sale as desired._

_Comic books, video games, and general useless technological thingamawhoozits are to go to Cyborg, my fellow gaming buddy._

_All of my hair gel items, combs, and hair accessories go to Robin. (may you overuse them well!)_

_Any and all fuzzy stuffed animals, childish toys, etc. may be given to Starfire, in hopes that her collection prospers._

_If I own any books, deep in the recesses of the piles of junk in my room, Raven can have them, though I doubt she would want anything to do with them. Also, any gum (Super Twinkle Donkey Gum!) is to be consumed at her leisure. _

_Anything else may be burned or given to the Doom Patrol. I will miss you all--good luck with the rest of your lives!"_

Beast Boy sat back, exhausted. It had taken a while, what with the awkward writing materials, but thankfully the sleeping sorceress had not woken during his lengthy bout of scribing. Perhaps it wouldn't be needed, but still--it was good to be safe, just in case. He was just lucky it had been a Megathon bar wrapper, as big as his head, and so he had plenty of room to write.

Just how long it had been, he wasn't sure, though he got an idea of the length of time that had passed when he noticed the setting sun painting a vivid color scheme over the landscape. He gazed at the bright pinks, oranges, and yellows that spilled onto Jump City Bay like a tipped can of paint, sighing calmly. If she was gonna kill him, now would be the ideal time. He was content.

Speaking of his sleeping companion, he noticed when she began to stir, face twisting into odd expressions as if the beings in her dream were conversing with her. She began to mumble, twisting and turning in the throes of a potential nightmare.

"No...don't want to...can't...do it...be...be quiet! Shut up!" she whimpered, beginning to breathe hard in desperation and fear.

Beast Boy's face went slack and pale as he realized what must be happening._ Is it another one?_ he wondered silently, all notions of his near death fleeing his mind as he grabbed her shoulder and began to shake her gently. His attempts grew more frantic when she didn't wake up, and the nightmare seemed to be getting worse. She was nearly hyperventilating now, free arm waving out in the air in front of her in order to push him away and cursed one jerking and spasming as it tried in vain to assist the other.

Suddenly her eyes flew open, and she gasped for air as if she had been swimming underwater. She looked straight into his eyes for a second, fear making her thoughts blurry and muddled, and confusion swum in their violet depths. She was probably wondering why a green boy was practically sitting on her lap, hand on her shoulder, eyes open wide enough to match hers. He blushed and removed his hand, flipping back over so that he was sitting beside her again. The half demon didn't seem to care, though, and he could feel her trembling through the cursed bond they shared.

"Raven?" he asked gently, hesitantly peeking over at her paler-than-usual face. She gulped and stared around at him, eyes still wide and watery. The girl didn't look the least bit angry, and for that he was glad.

"Um...thanks," she whispered, evidently understanding what had happened. "Could...Could I, um, get some tea, please?" the dark girl asked timidly.

Puzzled as to why _she_ was asking _him_, his eyebrows knit together and he nodded. She nodded back, shakily sat up, and shoved herself to her feet. He repeated the motion and followed her up the steps to the kitchen area. Their bound arm swung between them limply, now nearly reaching their elbows. Beast Boy docilely allowed himself to be led along like a dog on a leash, comfortable with the idea of avoiding a head-to-head tussle with Raven, since whatever he was doing now didn't seem to be riling her temper.

Upon reaching the cabinet that expressly housed her tea boxes, she was pretty much back to normal. A bored, neutral expression sat on her face, and she stood on her tippytoes to reach a small gray box of tea on the top shelf. Curious, he peered closer as she pulled out a small green packet marked "_Zen_". Eyes widening in recognition, he stumbled forward and clutched at the countertop. The boy stared up at Raven, shocked, and she glanced down at him.

"What?" she murmured apprehensively.

* * *

Okays, okays, I know. Cliffhanger, though you all probably know what comes next. I decided to end the chapter here because the next scene is quite long and, well, I didn't want this chapter to be huge, because then you wouldn't get another one for a while. I'll probably upload the next chapter within a few days. After I do, the fact that the title of this chapter is in plural tense will make more sense. (Haha! I rhymed...) Spring break is useful for catching up on your writing when you have no life like me!!! Thank you all very much for reading and sticking with me, and I hope to hear from ya in a review! If not, I'll be sad, but hey, it's ok. Sadness only means you guys have a _few_ more days to wait for the next chapter than you would if I was happy. (Sorry, sorry! Guilt trip, guilt trip!) Ok, ciao, everyone! 


	12. Dreamscapes

Hiii!!! (Waves cheerily) How's it going, guys? Amigos? Compadres? Ok, sorry. (buries head in hands) I'm on a sugar high. But anyway, I'm sorry, I lied. It took several weeks rather than a few days to get this chapter in. Hopefully, as summer is now upon us, I may have more time to write for you guys. Thank you for returning for chapter 12 of Quality Time, and since you came for that and not my ramblings, here you go. Chapter 12. Whoopee!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, nor any copyrighted works that become in some way connected with this story. Thank you for your time. (curtsies and exits stage as curtains begin to part)

* * *

**Chapter 12: Dreamscapes**

_The worst is over now and we can breathe again_

_I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away_

_There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight_

_I wanna hold you high and steal your pain_

**_--Broken (Seether, featuring Amy Lee)_**

_Eyes widening in recognition, he stumbled forward and clutched at the countertop. The boy stared up at Raven, shocked, and she glanced down at him._

_"What?" she murmured apprehensively._

Beast Boy gulped, and continued to look up at the girl in a state of disbelief.

"What!?" she repeated, drawing back and raising an eyebrow. "What's your problem!??"

He gazed at her curiously for a moment, thinking, then pointed cautiously to the _Tazo _tea box. "Isn't that...the one...I--"

He didn't finish his sentence as she stepped back with a gasp, suddenly remembering the origin of the box. Her wide eyes and hotly flushing face were quickly obscured by the shadow her cloak's protective hood made as she lifted it instinctively over her hair. She breathed deeply for a few seconds, then opened her eyes shyly. He was still staring at her, with a resigned and patient but deeply grateful look on his face. Gathering her thoughts, she managed to get an intelligible sound out of her mouth.

"Um...yes. I recently...ah, found it in the back of the cupboard. Note attached. I really can't believe it was in there for so long, and I never knew it..." She trailed off as his mouth curved into a gentle smile. When he spoke, his voice was soft and full of joy.

"I...thought you had thrown it away..." he whispered, giving her a sidelong glance as they both turned back to the box.

_'Ah...so my assumptions were correct_.' she thought, delicately grasping the packet of _Zen _again between her long fingers. It only took her a moment to prepare the cup in the microwave, abandoning, on basis of the circumstances, her usual old-fashioned method of tea-making for a quicker, safer technique. Beast Boy tagged along doggedly, enjoying the companionable silence that hung between the two. This silence persisted until after she had dropped the tea bag into the cup and they had seated themselves at the table, the gray-faced girl absentmindedly watching the sworls of steam rising from the hot water as it slowly turned a calming gray-green shade while the green teen twiddled his thumbs and tapped a beat against the table leg with his shoe. She turned to look at him exasperatedly, and he stopped, a tentative smile stretching across his features.

"Sorry," he croaked, licking his lips and slumping back in his chair. Raven simply nodded, acknowledging both his mistake and his apology in one fell swoop. She seemed not the least bit put out by his anxious attitude, and sipped her tea placidly.

Sighing in pleasure as the warmth of the herb-infused water seeped into her pores, she was surprised to find her companion reddening in the face and stuttering for words beside her. Her eyebrows raised in silent question, and he fumbled, gulping.

"Um...d'you, um...like it? The tea, I mean..." He looked away as soon as possible, refusing to meet her eyes, and fiddled with a crease in his uniform leg. She started at the directness of his question, but berated herself silently. Beast Boy was not one to be subtle, and she should have expected such a frank, simple query from him.

"Y-yes..." she murmured, staring down at the cup of tea and pulling the string on the bag to make it bob up and down like a cork in the water. "Thank you...I really do appreciate it. A lot. It was exactly what I needed...so thank you."

She said it so quietly that he had to strain forward to hear her, but he brightened and sat up straight when he did decipher her words. She could feel an unnatural hotness spreading across her cheeks, and reached up to adjust her hood more firmly over her face, but his hand suddenly stopped hers. She tensed, the hotness spreading into a fiery blush as his fingers trickled down her palm to grip her wrist and forced her to lower her arm back down to the table. Surprised, she didn't resist. He then lifted the same hand to the top of her head, grasped the tip of her hood, and pulled it down so it rested again on her shoulders. Her eyes widened, and she squeaked like a frightened mouse, ducking her head to hide the rouge tinge of her skin from his searching gaze.

Again he denied her a hiding place, gripping her chin between his fingers and tilting her head back up so she was forced to face him. Amusement flickered over his features for a moment before seriousness again reigned supreme, and the two silently met each others' gaze. For a moment, Raven was terrified. She had never, _never_ been put in such a compromising position, one in which her emotions could easily be read, for her powers, and thus her ability to get away from other people, had nearly always been intact and served nicely to keep this kind of scene from occurring. Besides, with her powers it was dangerous to show emotion, so no one had ever pushed her quite this much when they quested for her true feelings, which were rarely publicly broadcast. She knew now that somehow her will had disappeared along with her powers, her firm resolve to remain stoic evaporating as the danger that normally haunted her every moment--waking or sleeping--ceased to exist. She was horribly and completely exposed, and, like always, he was right there. Right there at the exact inopportune moment, there to receive the full brunt of her raw feelings when they reared their ugly heads.

Her anxiety dissolved, however, as she stared into his eyes. His emerald irises sparkled and gleamed as they saw right through her facade and delved into her soul, while all she could do at first was helplessly read his responses. Humor, happiness, and compassion flitted like birds across his face, but while he attended to stealing her private thoughts, she was able to steal some of his. And she was very surprised at what she found. He may have looked happy, mouth twisted into an adorable crooked grin, but his eyes...beyond the typical good humor, beyond the silliness she was used to seeing in him, his eyes were overpoweringly sad. How she had never seen this before, she did not know. Perhaps such a heart-to-heart was needed before some of the strongest masks could be broken through, for she now realized he certainly had one. Deep beneath the false layers of stupidity and happiness he displayed for everyone, a great sorrow and pain tortured his mind and rent his soul into tiny little fragments of what it had once been.

Digging deeper, she saw self-hatred, fear, and an overwhelming sense of guilt that clouded the darkest corners of his psyche. Raven wondered at the reason for all of these ugly feelings. Surely...surely he was not such a tormented creature? But how was she to know, anyway? She had only ever had two serious talks with him before, and she knew nothing of his past. Perhaps he, the jokester who seemed to have the mind of a ten-year-old, was more mature than anyone else in the Tower. Despite the little show he put on for everyone, he was probably very smart. Smart enough to know grief, to know true dejection, and never want to see it again. She realized now that she understood. The reason he always included everyone, got everyone to play games with him and go eat pizza together, was so that no one had to suffer as much as he did. It obviously pained him more than anything to see another fall apart, when he knew how it felt and knew that no one deserved to have to deal with it.

He must have felt it then, felt his mask breaking beneath her naturally powerful empathic abilities, or seen it in her eyes, for he broke out of his searching trance and released her, jerking away to hit the back of his seat harshly and turn around as best he could in their current cumbersome position. Beast Boy seemed to gather himself, to grab a Quik-Fix patch from his inner arsenal and plaster it carefully over the cracks in his meticulously constructed veneer, and then turned around, false nonchalance radiating in tangible waves from his being.

"Whatcha blushin' 'bout, huh, Rae-Rae?" he taunted, baring his teeth in an obnoxiously suggestive smile. "Am I really that amazing and handsome that you can't thank me for some little birthday present without getting all flustered?"

She just looked at him sympathetically, trying to express without words her care and understanding. The girl didn't even mind his attempt at enraging her, knowing now that he was just trying to cause a distraction, to get her to forget what she saw. His smile faded as he realized his taunting wasn't going to work. They stared at each other solemnly for a moment from as far away as possible, cursed arms comically stretched taut between them like a fat tug-of-war rope. Raven knew that now was the time to confront him with this issue, to try and comfort him through whatever it was that plagued him so terribly and let him know that despite her cold demeanor, she was there for him. As she opened her mouth to begin the burning of bridges, the main doors to the room slid open to admit a ranting Robin and desperately protesting Cyborg. The tension, and all hope for a conversation, was instantly dissolved.

"I told you a _thousand_ times, Cyborg, buff _gently, _pay attention to what you're doing, treat my R-cycle like it's your baby, and **what do you do?**" the Boy Wonder raved, throwing his hands around like a couple of birdarangs as his mask wiggled and jerked around in response to his erratic facial expressions. The poor robotic man put his hands up in self-defense, looking quite ashamed of himself.

"Hey, hey now, Robin! Calm down, man. It's not _that_ big of a scratch! I mean, it'll **come out**! How was I supposed to realize I was putting the sander head on instead of the soft buffing cloth when you were screaming in my ear about that tiny little nick in the fender the entire time? Ya just about overloaded my circuits, man! I didn't do it on _purpose_!" Cy pleaded, backing up while the spiky-headed teen advanced angrily on him, kung-fu fists clenched tightly in rage.

"Not that big of a scratch? **Not that big of a SCRATCH!?!** Excuse me, Cyborg, but I didn't realize you called a scuff the size of your _fat head_ a **SCRATCH**!!!" Robin shrieked, face shifting to a dangerous shade of purple as he spoke. Fortunately, the two were stopped before much more damage could be inflicted.

The green teen had jumped from his seat at this opportunity, and now cupped his free hand around his mouth and shouted like the announcer at a boxing game. "Technogeek vs. Psychofreak, round 1, round 1!!! I'm selling tickets!!! It's gonna be the fight of the century, folks, get 'em while they're hot!!!" he trilled, hooting and whistling to simulate a roaring crowd while banging his cursed hand on the table (simultaneously making Raven's arm jiggle and bounce in tandem with his). All traces of grief were gone from his face, long-concealed despondency once again overpowered by his obsessive need to placate the arguing roomies, or at least direct their attention to someone other than each other. And, as usual, the bait was taken.

"Yo, green bean, don't be dissin' me like that!" Cyborg growled playfully while his knuckles made a sickening sort of grinding crunch against the boy's head, triggering a squealing protest from the green-skinned elf lookalike. Robin simply stood back with his arms folded across his chest, pouting and whining about Beast Boy's questionable use of the term "psycho".

Raven leaned back in her chair with the steaming cup of tea cradled close to her face, hiding a smirk while she silently observed. She had never before witnessed the true genius behind the green teen's escapades, and finally now appreciated his effort. Knowing Robin, he'd have been in a sulk about something like this for weeks, and when it came to Cyborg, they all knew how the two's former arguments had turned out...

At that point, Starfire flew into the room with a worried look on her face, toting friendship necklaces and some alien berries, the purpose of which had been formerly explained to them when Robin had gone into a stint of Slade-obsession--they were meant to act as a medicine to soothe frayed nerves. She skidded to a stop before the boys, stumbling a little and thrusting an armful each out towards them.

"Friends! Please, take the beads of Bumgorf and the Charnapf berries! Your companionship is at the stake, and quick repair is needed!" she cried.

Both formerly-feuding young men looked at each other warily, and, before the Tamaranian princess could forcefully stuff the odd clusters of yellow baubles into their mouths (she seemed about to do just that), Robin took the initiative and gently levered her wrist downwards and away from him.

"It's all right, Star. We're fine now. Aren't we, Cyborg?" he asked.

Cy quickly nodded, grinning a little shakily at the couple before realizing that he still had Beast Boy wedged in the crook of his arm and hurriedly releasing the suffocating vegan. The green boy proceeded to gasp and gag, collapsing into his seat with a loud bang and whimpering complaints about robot B.O. between breaths. If Robin and Cy hadn't been over their little tussle before the girl had flown in, they certainly were now. In no way did they want those medicinal berries going anywhere near their digestive systems. They shook hands with matching grins on their faces in order to obliterate the skeptical arch of the redhead's tiny eyebrows, which silently promised the force-feeding of Charnapf berries if they so happened to be lying.

Raven sighed into her mug, draining the last of it in one gigantic swig. She was ready to get out of here before more craziness ensued. Then she remembered: She was stuck with the #1 source of her daily overdose of craziness. She may have found out that he was a tortured soul, with wisdom hidden behind a mask of ignorance, but that discovery would definitely not stop him from pestering her over the course of their forced company. It would only make her suffering more tolerable, knowing he was truly only trying to help. She might as well get away from the others for a while, at least. With a groan, she heaved herself to her feet and tugged with her cursed arm, trying to drag her harasser along as if on a leash. He got up unexpectedly easily, and simply followed her up the steps to the door. Before it closed behind them, they heard (and ignored) the sniggers of their fellows that trickled wickedly along the airwaves towards them. Raven wished, not for the first time in her life, that she could simply pinch herself and wake up, this entire ordeal having merely been another bad dream.

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Ta da! Finally, another chapter, eh? I'm sorry it took so long, but I had trouble seating myself for an extended period of time to finish it. I originally intended to make it cover more, but I realized that the extent of what I had planned in this chapter could conceivably encompass several chapters. So...the story will be longer now. Yay? (Hears angry weeping from the audience and several cries of 'Why?!! Why must she torture us by making her stupid story LONGER!!???!' and sighs.) Sorry, guys. I'm afraid you'll be hanging around for a while. And also: The titles of this chapter and the previous one were merely for my enjoyment. Nightmares and Dreamscapes! Ohoho! (Chuckles merrily) Y'know, like the Stephen King TV series? Get it? Didn't think so. It just popped into my head and I was like 'Hey! Coolio chapter names!' I actually thought it was the title of a painting, until I Googled it. But it still works because Stephen King is well known for his horror stories! It's just not as...elegant...as it seemed to be before I knew of its true origin. (Shrugs) Oh, well. Anyway, thankies for attending yet another chapter of Quality Time, and I hope to see you when I come back with the next fun-filled addition to the story!!! 

Ciao, loves! (ROTFLOL at myself)


	13. For Real?

Hi, everyone!!! Here we are at chapter 13 of Quality Time. Yet another milestone in the life of my first fanfic...(sniffles) Look at me, getting all teary-eyed...they just type up _so fast_! My oldest story is now a _teenchapter_!!! Alright...that's enough with the cliches. I needn't sound like a middle-aged woman while I myself am still in my teen years. Here we go, chapter 13, everybody!!! (cheers)

Disclaimer: If only, if only, the poor writer sighs, money grew on trees and flew from the skies. She would bag it below, so happy, not lonely, for she could then buy Teen Titans, if only, if only.

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**Chapter 13: For Real?**

_I see nothing in your eyes, and the more I see the less I like._

_Is it over yet, in my head?_

_I know nothing of your kind, and I won't reveal your evil mind._

_Is it over yet? I can't win._

_So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left._

_I know that I can find the fire in your eyes._

_I'm going all the way, get away, please._

_You take the breath right out of me._

_You left a hole where my heart should be._

_You gotta fight just to make it through,_

_'Cause I will be the death of you._

**_--Breath (Breaking Benjamin)_**

Silence, but for the rhythmic tread of shoe against carpet, shrouded the hallways of Titans Tower as Raven and Beast Boy wandered through them. She led, and he traipsed pensively along behind her, unresisting. To tell the truth, he was in too much shock at the moment to really register the fact that he was moving. What he had seen in her eyes--the fear, the concealed caring, the unmistakable understanding that shone in those normally hidden gemstones--both intrigued and terrified him. He was afraid of what he may have revealed about himself in the time spent trying to decode her thoughts, and wished now that he had never tried. Just because her powers were gone at the moment and she couldn't retaliate didn't mean that he needed to go lurking around in the most private areas of her mind. He knew that, if his walls had fallen for the slightest second, she may have seen what lay beneath the lid of _his_ inner safe. In no way did he want that.

The boy's confusion mounted, finally driving him to conscious thought, as his friend turned into the one hallway that had always been colder, quieter, inexplicably more secluded than any other in the house. When she stopped before the door that had the word RAVEN etched into its reinforced steel surface, he was finally able to shake himself out of his stupor.

"U-um..." he stuttered, shunting himself backwards a few steps and straining at their connection. She turned to him, one thin eyebrow arched in puzzlement, and asked a simple question that he had no real answer for.

"What?" she drawled, voice dry. He gulped, readying himself for some form of disembowelment.

"This is your room," he said, voice trembling, "and I'm not allowed in your room, Raven. Remember?"

She must remember. The terms to which he and Cyborg had been forced to sign clearly guaranteed a certain degree of life endangerment within 30 feet of her doorway. The girl had gloated for a good ten minutes, relishing her grand victory over the comparatively feeble-minded twosome. Certainly such a memory would remain ingrained in her mind for more than a few months? However, the girl merely nodded sagely.

"I know that. This time, and this time only, you will be permitted entrance into my room. This is simply because I wish to enter, and I'm not going to punish myself by not going where I want and doing what I want to do merely because I am pinned to a little leech like you."

Her dry words struck an uneasy chord in his brain, but he sighed and rocked back on his heels instead of spinning around and running away like a skittish horse, as he was wont to do. She tugged impatiently on their magical link and strode into her bedroom, the door automatically whooshing into the recesses of the wall at her approach. He followed with a growing sense of apprehension.

A minute later the boy found himself seated rather uncomfortably on the floor while Raven sat cross-legged on her bed reading one of her massive tomes. Silence reverberated forcefully around the room except for the occasional flipping of a page, and he was quickly growing bored with this mundane activity. Beast Boy looked down and began to examine his shoe, mentally tracing the patterns of purple and black and committing them yet again to memory. When he reached down with his free hand, however, to flick a clod of dirt from the toe of his boot, his arm scraped against the sharp corner of something partially hidden beneath the bed.

Glancing surreptitiously up at Raven, he was for a moment taken aback at the serenity of her normally severe features. Her cropped purple locks were trailing softly around her chin and her amethyst eyes were bright with interest as she scanned page after page of strange Gothic text. His own face twisted into a half-smile, and he returned to the task of sneakily lifting the edge of her bedsheet to uncover whatever it was there that had bumped him. He was rather disappointed to find that it was simply yet another book, a musty black volume with the engraving of a phoenix in flight on the cover.

As quietly as possible, he slid the book out from under the bed and creaked the cover open. He might as well do something as long as he was stuck here bored out of his mind. A great puff of dust rose up from the cracked, worn pages and he suppressed the sudden urge to sneeze. A page full of odd symbols and marks, looking like they were handwritten on the parchment, greeted him at the turn of the cover. They glowed with an odd inner light that freaked him out a little, but he was so used to such things, especially around Raven, that they quickly ceased to bother him. A picture spanned the entirety of the next page, showing a human figure standing at the crest of a hill, silhouetted by the sun, with its hands raised to the sky as a beam of light shot from its fingertips. The plasma blast continued on past the edge of the paper, wide and strong and pulsing with the same odd blue of the lettering in the text.

Finding himself engrossed in the oddity of the novel, he forgot to be gentle in turning the pages. Flipping to the middle of the book, he was hit straight in the face by another huge ball of dust that had collected from seeming years of disuse. A violent sneeze erupted from him, and a moment later his arm was nearly wrenched out of his socket as Raven jumped in surprise. She looked wildly down at the boy and noticed the open book lying before him on the dark carpeting. In a flash her face turned thunderous; she leaned down and snapped the book shut, but in her haste lost her balance and toppled forward off the edge of the bed with a shout.

In any normal situation, her powers would have prevented a faceplant from occurring, but unfortunately she had no use of them at the moment. Beast Boy found himself flat on his back on the floor, a half-demon lying dazed across the top of him. Groaning, she began to lift her torso from the floor but froze when she realized what warm soft thing it was she was sprawled on.

The changeling blushed a violent crimson when he too regained his senses. Suddenly he was well aware of every place their bodies touched--they had fallen cheek to cheek, faces now mere inches apart as she had begun to rise. He felt her breasts pressing into his chest, her hips slanted crosswise across his, her legs--tangled up with his black spandex-clad ones. Beast Boy's face grew ever hotter as he stared into those eyes of hers, furious and embarrassed but still sparkling with her grand beauty and intelligence. This odd feeling lasted only a moment before she scrambled up, kneeing him in the groin in the process and leaving him to writhe on the floor in agony as she collected herself.

"Ohhh, man!" he groaned, gingerly rising from his fetal position on the floor to sit cross-legged again. Raven was madly flipping through the tome he had been reading, checking for damages no doubt. He expected a stern lecture and possibly a few bodily injuries in the minutes to come, but another problem more pressing than that greeted his senses.

"Umm, R-Raven?" he whimpered, slinking back a bit when she tensed and refused to look at him.

"What?" she growled.

"Uh...I gotta pee."

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So there it is, loyal readers!!! Chapter treize, all typed up for ya! I am genuinely sorry it took SOO FREAKING LONG for me to get this out for ya, but I've been struggling with some family and health issues as of late and have had absolutely no time to write. Please forgive me? lip trembles

Ciao! I'll see you (hopefully) soon!!!

Tsuki


	14. Save the Girl or Save the World

Hey y'all! Long time no see, eh? Sorry again for the long wait, but my creativity has been blocked by a number of things as of late. Now that it's summer though, I'm finding a bit more time to write. Thanks for being so patient with me, you lovely people. But anyway, here you go! Chapter 14!!

Disclaimer: No. I do NOT own the rights to Teen Titans, nor any other copyrighted works for that matter. Except a poem in a book of literature, but that's another story. It has no relevance here. The only thing in this story I own is the plot.

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Chapter 14: Save the Girl or Save the World

_And through the wall my fist you call but then you always run_

_So what's it for the love and war it's only fair for some_

_You save the girl you save the world well that's not true it seems_

_Lesson learned speak out of turn I bite my tongue it bleeds_

_Bite my tongue it bleeds_

_**--"Shrink the World" (Yellowcard)**_

Raven stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face. "Now?" she asked dully, lip wrinkling in disgust.

"Yes..." he squeaked, shrinking back from her glare. "I'm sorry, but nature calls, alright? My bad!"

She arched an eyebrow in surprise. Normally he wasn't so frank with her, or so sarcastic. She guessed it was finally getting through to him that her threats were empty ones as long as she was under the curse's hold. With a frustrated sigh, she unfolded her stiff legs and snapped closed the book that was sitting on her lap.

"Hold on a second, and then we'll go, alright?" she muttered, stretching a bit before tugging at him to stand and walking over to a chest that sat in a corner of her room. She rummaged through it for a moment and pulled out a few items from its musty depths. Then she stood and began to stride from the room, dragging a grateful Beast Boy along behind her.

For the sake of privacy, I'm not going to go into detail about the bathroom break. However, I will mention that it involved a great deal of discomfort, flaming cheeks, a very thick blindfold, and a pair of earplugs, both fashioned from the things pulled out of the girl's old chest. When he was finished, he tapped Raven on the shoulder with his free hand and they vacated the premises with great haste. What would the others think if they had caught them there? Both shuddered at the thought.

Striding in unison to the main room again, they found it empty of any of their other roommates. It was all the better, really, considering. Now no one could tease them about their predicament. The silence was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious grumble that issued from the green teen's stomach.

"Huh. I'm hungry!" Beast Boy exclaimed, using his free hand to rub his slim belly. All he'd had to eat that day was half of a tofu sandwich, which wasn't that filling to begin with. He started over to the refrigerator to find some lunch, and Raven silently trailed behind him, too hungry herself to protest. As the boy rooted through the fridge in search of something remotely edible, she gazed around the room, eyes resting on the cabinet that housed her stockpile of tea. She licked her lips. A nice packet of Tazo sounded really good right about now.

When her friend backed out of the mini fridge with a plateful of cold vegan pizza, she dragged him over to said cabinet, opening it to remove a packet of the Tazo tea labeled Wild Sweet Orange. It smelled intensely invigorating, and she shivered in anticipation of its interesting flavor. After she poured herself a mug of water and put it in the microwave, too tired to start an entire kettleful, she dug through the refrigerator in search of something solid. In the fruit drawer she found a plastic bag full of rotten grapes--_yuck_--and another bag with a few somethings in it. The somethings happened to be a few firm, ripe peaches. She grabbed one and pulled the protesting green teen (who was trying desperately to consume his meal with no hands, a _very_ messy process) to the sink in order to wash it. When she wrapped it in a paper towel and took the first crunchy bite, a sigh escaped her lips. It was delicious.

The microwave then announced its existence with a loud, prolonged beep. She set her peach down at her spot at the table, allowing Beast Boy to set his plateful of pizza down as well, then strode over to silence the machine and retrieve her hot water. When the tea bag was dropped in and began to steep, she walked over to sit in her chair and began to eat. The two consumed their lunch in silence, merely concentrating on filling their empty stomachs, but of course this was Titans' Tower, and nothing was ever silent for long.

A loud siren sounded just as Raven was taking her first sip of tea, making her slam it down on the table and slosh a little on her hand. Beast Boy, in the middle of swallowing, choked and she had to pound him on the back with her free hand to dislodge the offending pizza. Just as the huge flatscreen television projected a map of the city, the other three Titans sprinted into the room breathlessly.

A larger-than-life picture of the electricity-powered monster known as Overload dominated the screen before it shrunk to a thumbnail portrait at the corner of the television. A map of the city took its place, a red throbbing dot making its appearance at the local hardware store. All five Titans sighed in irritation--not this guy _again_. Robin immediately took charge as usual, running up to the computer and typing in the coordinates to sync with the GPS systems on the team's vehicles.

"Okay, team, you know what to do. Douse him with water and make sure he can't reach any electrical sockets! Let's go!" he shouted, beginning to run from the room, when he suddenly skidded to a stop and turned to Beast Boy and Raven, both half-risen from their chairs. A confused expression crossed his worry-lined face while he put a hand to his chin, in deep thought.

"You two...I'm sorry, but I don't think you should come," he said apologetically. "Without your powers, you wouldn't be much of an asset, and you would probably just get in the way. I don't want you guys in danger until that curse is lifted, and stuck together like that, even if you still had your powers, it would be pretty awkward trying to get around and dodge his attacks. I think you need to stay here."

"Robin! We're coming!" Raven shouted, even as Beast Boy protested with a loud "No fair, Robin!" The Boy Wonder put his hands up in assurance, trying to ward off their anger without making a scene.

"I know, I know," he said. "It's NOT fair, but you guys don't need to be putting yourselves in any undue danger when we can easily handle him ourselves. You're NOT coming, and that's final."

Raven and Beast Boy both stood back in frighteningly similar pouts, mirror images of each other as they furrowed their brows stubbornly and stuck their lower lips out in a childish grimace. But in all honesty, there was nothing they could do to usurp Robin's decision. Despite all her airs, Raven knew that the bossy teen was the leading authority of the group's actions, and he had a point anyway. They wouldn't be any help on a mission, handicapped as they were.

Both recognized the inevitability of their homeboundness at the same time and sat back down with matching groans. Not only were they to be excluded from the protection of their city, but they had to deal with one another's sole company while the others were off battling evil. Were they ever going to get a break?

The others said a quick goodbye and charged off, the doors sliding shut behind them and leaving an awkward silence in the main room. Soon afterward, the T-car was seen gliding over the waters of Jump City's lake towards the glistening skyscrapers in the near distance. Both teenagers sighed huffily and turned towards one another with despairing looks on their faces. What to do, what to do?

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Well, ta da! Chapter 14! Sorry it took so long to get it out, yet again. Writing does not happen to be one of my priorities right now... But anyway, thanks for reading and as always, please review!!

Tsuki


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